Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network
Illicit discharges in urban stormwater drains are a major environmental concern that deteriorate downstream waterway health. Conventional detection methods such as stormwater drain visual inspection and dye testing have fundamental drawbacks and limitations which can prevent easy location and elimin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IWA Publishing
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Water Science and Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://wst.iwaponline.com/content/85/5/1372 |
| _version_ | 1818140946736349184 |
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| author | B. Shi S. Catsamas B. Deletic M. Wang P. M. Bach A. Lintern A. Deletic D. T. McCarthy |
| author_facet | B. Shi S. Catsamas B. Deletic M. Wang P. M. Bach A. Lintern A. Deletic D. T. McCarthy |
| author_sort | B. Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Illicit discharges in urban stormwater drains are a major environmental concern that deteriorate downstream waterway health. Conventional detection methods such as stormwater drain visual inspection and dye testing have fundamental drawbacks and limitations which can prevent easy location and elimination of illegal discharges in a catchment. We deployed 22 novel low-cost level, temperature and conductivity sensors across an urban catchment in Melbourne for a year to monitor the distributed drainage network, thereby detecting likely illicit discharges ranging from a transitory flow with less than 10 minutes to persistent flows lasting longer than 20 hours. We discuss rapid deployment methods, real-time data collection and online processing. The ensemble analysis of all dry weather flow data across all sites indicates that: (i) large uncertainties are associated with discharge frequency, duration, and variation in water quality within industrial and residential land uses; (ii) most dry weather discharges are intermittent and transient flows which are difficult to detect and not simply due to cross-connections with the sewerage network; (iii) detectable diurnal discharge patterns can support mitigation efforts, including policies and regulatory measures (e.g., enforcement or education) to protect receiving waterways; and, (iv) that it is possible to cost effectively isolate sources of dry weather pollution using a distributed sensor network. HIGHLIGHTS
Low cost water level, temperature, electrical conductivity sensors deployed at 20+ locations in catchment.;
IoT based sensor server ensures network is affordable, detects dry weather anomalous discharges.;
Most detected discharge pulses last under an hour, making it hard to detect via traditional sensing.; |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T10:52:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dec1adb73a3340c6ad46554fc0cee11d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0273-1223 1996-9732 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T10:52:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | IWA Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Science and Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-dec1adb73a3340c6ad46554fc0cee11d2022-12-22T01:10:15ZengIWA PublishingWater Science and Technology0273-12231996-97322022-03-018551372138310.2166/wst.2022.034034Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor networkB. Shi0S. Catsamas1B. Deletic2M. Wang3P. M. Bach4A. Lintern5A. Deletic6D. T. McCarthy7 BoSL Water Monitoring and Control, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia BoSL Water Monitoring and Control, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia BoSL Water Monitoring and Control, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia BoSL Water Monitoring and Control, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag), Überlandstrasse 133, Dübendorf 8600 ZH, Switzerland BoSL Water Monitoring and Control, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia BoSL Water Monitoring and Control, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia Illicit discharges in urban stormwater drains are a major environmental concern that deteriorate downstream waterway health. Conventional detection methods such as stormwater drain visual inspection and dye testing have fundamental drawbacks and limitations which can prevent easy location and elimination of illegal discharges in a catchment. We deployed 22 novel low-cost level, temperature and conductivity sensors across an urban catchment in Melbourne for a year to monitor the distributed drainage network, thereby detecting likely illicit discharges ranging from a transitory flow with less than 10 minutes to persistent flows lasting longer than 20 hours. We discuss rapid deployment methods, real-time data collection and online processing. The ensemble analysis of all dry weather flow data across all sites indicates that: (i) large uncertainties are associated with discharge frequency, duration, and variation in water quality within industrial and residential land uses; (ii) most dry weather discharges are intermittent and transient flows which are difficult to detect and not simply due to cross-connections with the sewerage network; (iii) detectable diurnal discharge patterns can support mitigation efforts, including policies and regulatory measures (e.g., enforcement or education) to protect receiving waterways; and, (iv) that it is possible to cost effectively isolate sources of dry weather pollution using a distributed sensor network. HIGHLIGHTS Low cost water level, temperature, electrical conductivity sensors deployed at 20+ locations in catchment.; IoT based sensor server ensures network is affordable, detects dry weather anomalous discharges.; Most detected discharge pulses last under an hour, making it hard to detect via traditional sensing.;http://wst.iwaponline.com/content/85/5/1372distributed sensingdry weather flowillicit dischargeslow-cost sensingpollution source trackingreal-time monitoring |
| spellingShingle | B. Shi S. Catsamas B. Deletic M. Wang P. M. Bach A. Lintern A. Deletic D. T. McCarthy Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network Water Science and Technology distributed sensing dry weather flow illicit discharges low-cost sensing pollution source tracking real-time monitoring |
| title | Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network |
| title_full | Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network |
| title_fullStr | Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network |
| title_full_unstemmed | Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network |
| title_short | Illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an Arduino-based low-cost sensor network |
| title_sort | illicit discharge detection in stormwater drains using an arduino based low cost sensor network |
| topic | distributed sensing dry weather flow illicit discharges low-cost sensing pollution source tracking real-time monitoring |
| url | http://wst.iwaponline.com/content/85/5/1372 |
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