Professor Mina Hoorfar, Director of UBC Okanagan's School of Engineering. Image credit: UBC Okanagan

A 3-D printed device that can monitor drinking water in real time has been created by a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus.

According to the researchers, the sensor can be inexpensively created thanks to 3-D printing. Additionally, the sensors can offer uninterrupted operation from just about any region in the water distribution system.

"Current water safety practice involves only periodic hand testing, which limits sampling frequency and leads to a higher probability of disease outbreak," says Professor Mina Hoorfar, director of the school of engineering. "Traditional water quality sensors have been too expensive and unreliable to use across an entire water system."

The wireless sensors, which were constructed in Hoorfar’s Advanced Thermo-Fluidic Lab at the UBC Okanagan campus, are both reliable and sturdy and able to operate independently in most environments (water pressure, temperature), according to Hoorfar.

"This highly portable sensor system is capable of constantly measuring several water quality parameters such as turbidity, pH, conductivity, temperature and residual chlorine, and sending the data to a central system wirelessly," she adds. "It is a unique and effective technology that can revolutionize the water industry."

Although many urban water purification plants offer real-time monitoring sensors that work upstream of the distribution system, Hoorfar’s sensor can be used at or near a customer’s home, offering additional protection against contaminated water.

The device is detailed in the journal Sensors.