DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARDUINO-BASED LOW-COST TURBIDITY AND ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY METER FOR WASTEWATER CHARACTERIZATION

M.A. RANDIKA, A.A.G.D. AMARASOORIYA, S.K. WERAGODA

Abstract


The turbidity and electrical conductivity of a wastewater stream are undeniably essential parameters in the characterization of wastewater. The primary objective of this study was to design a low-cost, efficient device for monitoring turbidity and electric conductivity of wastewater and to compare its performance against commercially available meters. The results indicated that the developed turbidity model sensor and electric conductivity probe provided a comparable turbidity value (ranging from 20-200 NTU) and EC (ranging from 0-50 mS/cm) compared to commercial meters at almost 10 times lower cost (12.87 US dollars for turbidimeter and 13.52 US dollars for electrical conductivity meter). The error percentage of the developed prototype was less than 5 % for both tested parameters. Therefore, the study concludes that this prototype can be used as an accurate and exact water quality measurement device that is capable of being applied in a wide variety of water quality applications, especially in low-income countries.


Keywords


Arduino, electric conductivity, conductivity meter, turbidity, wastewater

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References


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