2014, BEWS introductory meeting
- Main objectives:
Development of a cost-effective, sensitive, biological based early warning system for on-
line monitoring of freshwater contamination
- Current situation - addressed problems:
Demand for the development of an alarm system immediately sensing water quality
change has been growing in the past decades. Either from the side of reducing
environmental contamination or to lessen financial expenditure for reconstruction the
timely observation of the contaminating accident is necessary and beneficial. Chemical
pollution of natural waters from industrial, agricultural or communal sources, as well as
ineffective water treatment processes to remove pharmaceutical products and their
metabolites in sewage treatment plants hold a huge risk of environmental disaster and
threaten human health.
Therefore, by using experiences obtained from the usage of different biologically based
monitoring systems, the aim of this proposal primarily is to develop a competitive model
of an early warning biological sensor with satisfactory sensitivity, wide applicability and
low running expense.
- Major target groups:
Environmental authorities, companies, pharmaceutical industries, sewage treatment plants
- Innovation challenge:
Selection of living organism used in the early warning system according to local climatic and ecosystem
conditions. Sensor development. Introduction of new mathematical models in data acquisition and processing.
Validation with chemical based system. Remote sensing.
- Activities:
Extensive laboratory work is carried out in which we select the species according to the local environment,
physiological outputs, diurnal and annual biorhythm and background noise filtering. Also effects of non-specific
conditions will be carefully revised and investigated. The system’s sensitivity against known heavy metals,
organic pollutants, and also for novel contaminants of emerging concern is determined. In field studies the
behaviour of the sentinel living organisms is traced, and the arrangement will be refined in the laboratory if
necessary. Significant activities concern the innovation of the mechanical, electronic devices of the model and
the development of highly sophisticated informatics including ones using novel mathematical methods, and
remote sensing. The project needs multidisciplinary approaches from the fields of ecology, physiology,
engineering, physical and chemical sciences.
- Project milestones:
Innovation of a biological-based early warning system, with special emphasis to the development of software
possessing data acquisition, and assessment modules.
- Applicant+partners
AquaTerra Lab. Ltd, Veszprém, Hungary (consortium leader company)
Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Tihany, Hungary
International Research Institute Stavanger, Norway
South-West University of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom
Technische Universitat Berlin, Germany
Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
Port Said University, Egypt
University of Tunis, Tunisia
IN Srl, Udine, Italy
2013 - 2015, ENTUDAT project
ENTUDAT (Development of a complex tool and application kit to help consumer and
institutional energy effectiveness and consciousness). The goal of the project is to
develop a complex tool and application kit which creates the basis of a program, which
stimulates environmental consciousness and energy efficiency, what fits into the
program „Turn it off”, which is part of the Europe 2020 growth strategy.
During the project a system is developed, which makes smart consumption reading
possible without the need of changing the meters. Information acquired this way also
helps the costumer in efficient energy usage. The system to be developed can support not
only the costumer, but also the operative and statistical goals of the government, and can be an information
source for utility service companies. The emphasized goal of the product package is to enhance consumer and
institutional energy efficiency, therefore information, which is transmitted every 15 minutes by a camera
developed specially for this purpose to an application running on a PDA or tablet (or if the need arises from the
costumer, PC) can be analysed by the owner or the operator. From historical data the software is able to analyse
trends, outstanding values, thus making a possibility for the continuous monitoring of their energy consumption,
planning, furthermore it can send alarms when previously defined values appear.
2013-2015, GRID project
The goal of the project is, that by continuously monitoring quality parameters of surface water bodies (streams,
water flows, rivers, lakes, reservoirs), and if the need arises, by doing control measurements and with the help
of online information services we can ensure, the high quality and efficient protection of the three most
important traits of sustainability: wildlife, environment and technologies installed in the environment of waters.
The result of the project will be a complex, integrated, scalable, mobile, service package with extended reach,
which has a functionality tailored to the user profiles. During the project on one hand, we establish a grid based
mobile measurement system which covers the investigated territory as a net by network extension. On the other
hand, as a part of this grid, we develop sensor based (cheap, low operational cost) remote controlled
measurement devices. The system is based on a communication structure which is completed with accreditable
measurement devices installed on control points, and gives online information about critical and reference
points.
© Aqua-Terra Lab Ltd. 2021
2017 - 2021
EN: SediMONER project
•
Even
if
all
other
sources
of
contaminants
have
been
eliminated,
contaminants
can
cause
problems
up
to
years later if stirred up
•
Precise
knowledge
of
the
movement
and
dynamics
of
pollutants in surface waters is awaiting.
In
the
absence
of
a
suitable
measuring
instrument
the
behaviour
and
chemical
composition
of
the
creeping
sediment has not been mapped so far
MONITORING OF CREEPING SEDIMENT
is an increasingly important issue in the future
Sediment quality
MONitoring
automated samplER
Installed
automated
sampling
solution
for
monitoring
loose
creeping
sediment
contamination
in
surface
waterbeds.
„
Innovative
automated
waterbed
monitor
for
surface
water
sludge
contamination,
complementing
existing
solutions
”
MTI, Hungarian News Agency
HU: HOMER projekt
Felszíni
víztestek
mozgó
HO
rdalékfázisának
online
M
onitorozására
alkalmas
mintavevő
É
s
az
ehhez
kapcsolódó
anyagvizsgálati és biológiai
R
endszer kialakítása
The
implementation
of
the
sediment
monitor
was
in
the
frame
of
HOMER project co-financed by the EU.
Project ID: GINOP-2.2.1-15-2017-00070
for
automated
creeping
sediment
monitoring in surface water
•
Timely
detection
of
covert,
slowly
spreading toxic contamination
•
Observation
of
the
upper
moving
layer
of
sediment on the river bed
•
Detection
of
water
contaminants
which
could
not
be
investigated
but
have
serious
consequences
• Possibility to prevent spread.