Water Quality Monitor

"Water quality issues have increasingly become the focus of attention of United States citizens, private and public organizations, and units of government striving to meet competing demands while protecting the environment and public health. It is known that contaminated surface water and groundwater presents a health risk to both humans and animals. Over the last few decades, there has been increasing awareness and concern over organic contamination from hazardous waste sites and underground storage tanks. This contamination threatens the quality of groundwater at aquifers, thereby polluting water sources for human and animal consumption in many rural communities. This proposal concerns with the development of a low-cost, hand-held reliable monitoring system for the identification and quantification of hydrocarbon contaminants in surface water and groundwater. During the Phase I project, Lynntech will develop and test a chemical sensor capable of identifying and quantifying the most prevalent organics contaminants in groundwater in the U.S. During the Phase II project, a compact, automated monitoring system will be developed and field-tested."