Specifications

A Remote Automated Water Quality Stream Gauging System Design iv
iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The decline in the quality of water exported into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon is of
concern to government, natural resource managers, industry bodies and the community in
general.
Many of the rivers that flow into the GBR lagoon have seasonal flows driven by widespread
rainfall events. Widespread flooding associated with large flows reduce or preclude access
for the manual collection of water quality samples. Conversely the time required to access
many locations of interest is greater than the duration of smaller flows.
CSIRO Land and Water developed a reliable, fully automated system for the collection of
water quality samples and data.
Stations are controlled by a programmable data logger. The standard configuration enables
measurement of water depth, water velocity and temperature, turbidity and rainfall. Each
station has an auto sampler that can collect up to 24 one-litre samples. Telemetry is via the
mobile network or satellite systems depending on location.
The system uses event-based conditions to initiate measurements or sample collection. An
event may be defined in many ways. Some examples are by time, a change in water depth,
an amount of flow, rainfall, by the number of bottles remaining in the sampler or any other
attribute being measured
Data is automatically downloaded to a server on a daily schedule. The raw data runs through
a number of Data Transformation Services (DTS) where it is ingested into relevant
databases. A web report is automatically generated and messages are sent to staff mobile
phones and email addresses if alert conditions are met.
Thirteen systems have been reliably operating over a period of nine years with minimal
maintenance requirements. The scalability and programmability of the standard design offers
the capability to customise the system for any particular research requirement.