Investigating technologic advances in water sampling

Abstract

Water quality monitoring on a regular basis is an important part of managing New Zealand’s waterways and gauging changes in the aquatic environment. Traditional methods of taking samples from boats or canoes can be expensive, labour intensive and have health and safety risks.

Advancements in drone technology have made it possible to sample bodies of water via a drone platform in areas where boats or personnel are unable to access. Large expensive boats with a licenced skipper where people lean over the side to take samples will no longer be needed and labour costs with a drone can be reduced to as little as one or two operators who stand on the shore.

Before drones can be used as water sampling devices it is critical to assess their effectiveness in collecting samples without affecting the quality of data collected. This research investigated the production and modification of a novel, low cost, open source Niskin bottle (device that can be attached to a drone), to assess its effectiveness in collecting water samples compared to traditional methods of a Van Dorn.

The water samples were taken from several locations using the created device and traditional method, with samples tested in the lab and graphed to compare for significant differences and similarities. The findings of this research show that the quality of water samples collected using the novel drone device was not significantly different from that of samples collected using traditional sampling techniques. The study also demonstrates that low-cost water sampling devices can be constructed using off the shelf parts and electronics.