A feature of climate change is desiccation and salinization, which is especially problematic in agricultural areas. In order to counteract the salinization and its negative impact on crops in dry periods, fresh water is often supplied from other areas. Also, studies are conducted on methods for conserving fresh water and optimizing the fresh water supply in order to reduce costs. One way of optimizing supply is realtime monitoring of salinity, to be able to supply the right amount of fresh water on the right moment at the right location. However realtime monitoring requires a high resolution network to provide detailed information about the location and degree of salinization. The Multiflexmeter offers a cheap solution that allows to set up such a realtime monitoring network.
The Multiflexmeter is an open source and modular instrument for continuous and online measurement of water systems. It can be equipped with various sensors for measuring water height, conductivity, water quality, etc. It is expected that the price of a Multiflexmeter will not exceed € 150, -. This means that it is possible to set up a high-resolution monitoring network at low cost.
Technology demonstrated in relevant environment. Representative model or prototype system, which is well beyond that of TRL 5, is tested in a relevant environment. Represents a major step up in a technology’s demonstrated readiness. Examples include testing a prototype in a high-fidelity laboratory environment or in a simulated operational environment.
The testing plan and the BRIGAID’s Testing Innovation Framework (TIF) has been rightly applied and finished. The TRL of the innovation has been effectively reached.
The first Multiflexmeters have been setup to monitor water systems in the Province of Zeeland (Netherlands).
See https://beheer.mfmnet.nl/grafana/dashboard/db/multiflexmeter?orgId=1 for a Multiflexmeter that measures water levels and sends data through LoRa.
A test plan is being formulated in network configuration to monitor salinity in the agricultural area of Tholen. Here farmers pay for fresh water supply and the hypothesis is that less water is needed using the Multiflexmeter, reducing the costs.
How does it work?
The Multiflexmeter is a modular measuring device for continuous and online measurement of water systems. It can be equipped with various sensors for measuring water height, conductivity, water quality, etc. It has endless power supply and various communication capabilities, including Internet or Things Network such as LoRa. The Multiflexmeter and its development is fully open source in terms of hardware and software.
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