The Little Book of Irish Science SFI Little Book of Irish Science | Page 29

Water Monitoring
Prof Dermot Diamond from Dublin City University
along with the Environmental Protection Agency and
researchers from the Insight Centre for Data Analytics
have developed in-situ sensors for measuring
water quality, in particular nitrates and phosphates.
These pollutants trigger the growth of algal blooms
which results in oxygen depletion from the water
resulting in fi sh kills; ultimately the water becomes
undrinkable. The team has been collaborating closely
with TE Laboratories (Tullow, Co. Carlow) through
several EU projects and a targeted project with the
Science Foundation Ireland Insight Centre to develop
innovative technologies that will dramatically improve
the quality and performance of in-situ remote sensing
of pollutants in water bodies. Prototype devices
developed by the joint Insight-TE Laboratories team has
been selected for the fi nal stage in a global competition
organised by the US-based Alliance for Coastal
Technologies to assess the best approaches to delivering
robust solutions for in-situ sensing of nutrient levels.
www.insight-centre.org
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