ResilienTogether is creating a Smart Catchment using innovative technology and practices to reduce flood risk, enhance the water environment and improve community resilience in the Pix Brook catchment in the face of climate change.
Read more about what we have learnt and the advantages and disadvantages: ,Water quality measurement: Autosamplers vs Probes & Sondes
The digest draws from the University of Exeter’s ‘SuDS-specific water quality monitoring in the Pix Brook Catchment: A review of available technologies’ report. It compares the use of autosamplers with the use of probes & sondes as two main technologies for water quality measurement. This has informed ResilienTogether’s sampling methodology where a combination of autosamplers and sondes are being explored.
Autosamplers
- Provide high quality data
- Can be set up and left unattended to collect samples
- Can be triggered remotely at any time
- Some are refrigerated, which prevents degradation of samples due to high temperatures
Probes
- Small and compact
- Can be used in situations where specific data points need to be collected
- Quick measurements
Sondes
- Remote data collection over extended periods
- Real-time continuous or semi-continuous monitoring
- More sophisticated than individual probes
Autosamplers
- Samples must be collected after the sampling period, so suited to shorter term needs
- Larger piece of equipment, so installation requires suitable channel space and conditions
Probes
- Can’t sample for anything that needs laboratory analysis
- Can become damaged if the watercourse runs dry
- Measures one parameter
Sondes
- Can’t sample for anything that needs laboratory testing
- Can become damaged if the watercourse runs dry