Using in situ sensors to monitor ecosystem health in freshwater catchments.

在英格兰和威尔士，淡水富营养化每年给水务公司造成约5400万至9600万英镑的损失。每天1.5万英镑，每个水处理厂。过量的营养素会使藻类大量繁殖，对生态系统健康、水质以及最终的味道和气味产生负面影响。在水华发生后处理水是昂贵的，通常发生在问题发生后，并有可能对生态系统造成长期损害。如果治疗可以是反应性的，而不是预测性的，那么治疗成本可能会降低，生态系统的健康得到改善。然而，预测性处理需要实时监测水体的营养状况。营养素通常通过水取样进行评估，然后返回实验室进行分析，即使在最好的情况下，这也可能需要几天时间。技术，现在可用于原位监测的一些营养物质，特别是硝酸盐和DOM，但其适用于英国淡水系统，而不是海洋沃茨，他们的设计知之甚少。该项目将评估几种原位传感方法，以帮助我们的项目合作伙伴开发最佳预测工具，以控制与土臭素生产相关的富营养化，味道和气味问题的风险，并降低相关的水处理成本，改善供水集水区生态系统的健康。

Freshwater eutrophication costs water companies approximately £54-96m annually in England and Wales. £1.5k per day per water treatment works. An excess of nutrients fertilises algal blooms that have negative impacts on ecosystem health, water quality, and eventually taste and odour. Treating the water after blooms have occurred is expensive, typically occurs after the problem has occurred, and risks longer term damage to the ecosystem. If treatment can be responsive, rather than predictive, then treatment costs may be reduced and ecosystem health improved. Predictive treatment, however, requires real-time monitoring of nutrient status of water bodies. Nutrients are typically assessed by water sampling and return to the laboratory for analysis, which even in the best case scenario may take several days. Technologies are now available for in situ monitoring of some nutrient species, notably nitrate and DOM, but their suitability for UK freshwater systems rather the ocean waters for which they were designed is poorly known. This project will assess several in situ sensing methods, to aid our project partners in developing the best predictive tools to control risks of eutrophication , taste and odour problems associated with geosmin production, and reducing associated water treatment costs and improving supply catchment ecosystem health.