A Microcontroller Based Turbidity Meter
A Low-Cost Turbidity Meter for Underdeveloped Countries
Our project is a collaboration with an independent research project being conducted by senior civil and environmental engineering student James Berg. The goal of this project is to create a low cost turbidity meter for use in under developed countries. Real laboratory turbidity meters can cost over $1000. Our goal is to create a meter that costs between $50 and $75. Because we are using less expensive sensors, the accuracy of our meter might not be as high as a piece of laboratory equipment. However, our goal is make a meter with a resolution of .1 NTU in the range 0-50 NTU and a resolution of 2 NTU in the range 50-1000 NTU. In addition the meter needs to have a calibration mode which can accurately calibrate the meter for use in the field.
Background
What is Turbidity?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), turbidity is:
The cloudy appearance of water caused by the presence of suspended and colloidal matter. In the waterworks field, a turbidity measurement is used to indicate the clarity of water. Technically, turbidity is an optical property of the water based on the amount of light reflected by suspended particles. Turbidity cannot be directly equated to suspended solids because white particles reflect more light than dark-colored particles and many small particles will reflect more light than an equivalent large particle.[1]
Basically, this means that turbidity is closely related to the amount of light scattered at 90 degrees when a light source is shined through a sample. Our measurement process takes advantage of the relationship between optical scattering and turbidity to take measurements of the turbidity of liquid samples.
Link: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/e...bidityMeter.htm
A Low-Cost Turbidity Meter for Underdeveloped Countries
Our project is a collaboration with an independent research project being conducted by senior civil and environmental engineering student James Berg. The goal of this project is to create a low cost turbidity meter for use in under developed countries. Real laboratory turbidity meters can cost over $1000. Our goal is to create a meter that costs between $50 and $75. Because we are using less expensive sensors, the accuracy of our meter might not be as high as a piece of laboratory equipment. However, our goal is make a meter with a resolution of .1 NTU in the range 0-50 NTU and a resolution of 2 NTU in the range 50-1000 NTU. In addition the meter needs to have a calibration mode which can accurately calibrate the meter for use in the field.
Background
What is Turbidity?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), turbidity is:
The cloudy appearance of water caused by the presence of suspended and colloidal matter. In the waterworks field, a turbidity measurement is used to indicate the clarity of water. Technically, turbidity is an optical property of the water based on the amount of light reflected by suspended particles. Turbidity cannot be directly equated to suspended solids because white particles reflect more light than dark-colored particles and many small particles will reflect more light than an equivalent large particle.[1]
Basically, this means that turbidity is closely related to the amount of light scattered at 90 degrees when a light source is shined through a sample. Our measurement process takes advantage of the relationship between optical scattering and turbidity to take measurements of the turbidity of liquid samples.
Link: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/e...bidityMeter.htm