Sewer sensor to unmask water polluters

The brainchild of a team including experts from the Fraunhofer Institutes for Integrated Circuits IIS and for Reliability and Microintegration IZM, the technology is able to detect hazardous pollutants in wastewater treatment facilities and identify the polluter.

“The sensor system is designed to detect certain substances that are typically found in affected wastewater,” explained Dr. Matthias Völker, group manager at Fraunhofer IIS. “It comprises two sensor components – physical sensors and a chemical sensor – as well as an energy management system, a control and communication system and a sampling system.”

If tainted waste-water is detected then safety agencies can then use the technology to examine the sewage system at certain points and, by taking multiple measurements, gradually close in on and ultimately expose the perpetrator.

To take the measurements, a robot places three rings in the sewage pipe. The first ring is positioned directly in front of the suspect company’s inlet and the second directly behind it. Both rings are equipped with a physical sensor for measuring various parameters, such as temperature, pH and water conductivity. The two rings communicate with each other wirelessly and compare the measurement data from their sensors.