Universal water condition monitoring device
AssigneeThe University of Akron
InventorsKye-Shin Lee, Ajay Mahajan
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a water condition monitoring device and related methods of use that significantly reduce the cost of the water condition monitoring devices by replacing the expensive and bulky multiple sensor electrodes of currently available devices with a single set of two or three metal electrodes to detect and/or measure such water quality parameters as pH, electric conductivity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen content. A microcontroller activates each sensor one at a time in a continuous loop, processing the sensor signals into near real time water condition data, which may be stored, displayed, or sent to a remote location for storage or display.
Claims17
A water condition monitoring device comprising:
- a pair of metal electrodes comprising a first metal electrode and a second metal electrode, wherein said first and second metal electrodes are made from different conductive metals;
- a pH sensing unit coupled to said pair of electrodes for sensing the pH of a sample;
- an electrical conductivity sensing unit coupled to said pair of electrodes for sensing the electrical conductivity of a sample;
- and
- a microcontroller, coupled to said pH sensing unit and said electrical conductivity sensing unit.
A method of monitoring water conditions using a single set of metal electrodes comprising:
- placing a pair of metal electrodes comprising a first metal electrode and a second metal electrode in a quantity of water to be monitored, wherein said pair of electrodes are coupled to a plurality of sensors, each sensor measuring an attribute of the water to be monitored using said pair of metal electrodes and said first metal electrode and said second metal electrode are made from different conductive metals;
- and
- sequentially activating each one of said plurality of sensors to measure each attribute of the water to be monitored and generating a corresponding output voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.