SHIPBOARD AUTOMATED WATER QUALITY MONITOR

NAVY VESSELS PROCESS, UTILIZE AND DISCHARGE NUMEROUS WATER STREAMS WITH VARYING QUALITY/CHEMISTRY REQUIREMENTS. BECAUSE A SOUND SHIPBOARD WATER SYSTEM IS VITAL, COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT AND CONTROL PROCEDURES HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED BY THE NAVY. HIGH PRIORITY IS GIVEN TO THEIR IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE. WATER ANALYSIS IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THESE QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES. SEVERAL LENGTHY AND OFTEN COMPLEX "WET CHEMISTRY" ANALYSIS PROCEDURES ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED. THESE PROCEDURES HAVE INHERENT PROBLEMS PARTICULARLY ONBOARD SHIPS WHERE LABORATORY SPACE IS LIMITED AND THE ACCURATE DETERMINATION OF MASS AND/OR VOLUME MAY BE DIFFICULT TO MAKE DUE TO THE SHIP'S MOTION. THE SHELF LIFE OF CHEMICALS AND THE HIGH DEGREE OF OPERATOR INVOLVEMENT (HUMAN FACTOR) ARE ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF ERROR. USING STATE-OF-THE-ART SENSORS/INSTRUMENTATION, FOSTERMILLER PLANS ON DEVELOPING A SHIPBOARD AUTOMATED WATER QUALITY MONITOR(SAWQM) THAT WILL MEASURE WATER PARAMETERS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATION OF A NAVY VESSEL. THE SAWQM WILL BE DESIGNED FOR THE CONFINED SPACE CONSTRAINTS OF A SHIP. IMPROVED ACCURACY, REPEATABILITY, RELIABILITY, MAINTAINABILITY, EASE OF OPERATION, MINIMUM USE OF REAGENTS AND MINIMUM OPERATOR INVOLVEMENT WILL BE THE FUNCTIONAL GOALS DRIVING THE SAWQM DESIGN.