Sensors to monitor water quality are operating in harsh environments since they are in frequent contact with water. The Turbinator turbidity and water level sensor developed by IVL works around this issue by using a laser beam and a camera to measure turbidity and water level without being in contact with water. It can be used for early warning of pollutants or for predictive maintenance of a city's pipeline network for waste- and stormwater. The Turbinator is easy to install or de-install for example when the battery needs to be changed or the sensor is moved to a new location. No drilling is required. The installation and un-installation can be done without entering the drain, thus avoiding otherwise necessary safety measures.

How it works

The sensor sends a laser beam into the water, takes a photo of where the light hits the surface and uses an AI algorithm to calculate the turbidity based on the photo. To develop the algorithm, IVL has gathered thousands of images together with reference measurements. The images are used in the training process of the algorithm. By processing the information on both sensor and system level with AI, an estimate of the load or deviations in the network over time creates insights needed for predictive maintenance of the system.