Auckland Bioengineering Institute ME (Bioengineering)
Design and Evaluation of a Mobile Sensing Platform for Water Conductivity by Chamod WeerasingheElectrical conductivity is one of the many water quality parameters that provides an indication of total ionic contaminants in water. This is traditionally measured with either lab-based equipment or battery-powered portable meters. These tools are expensive and require expertise to use, hindering their widespread adoption. We aim to address this challenge based on a custom-made electrode and processing unit that can be plugged into a smartphone via the USB port. In this thesis, we present the design, development and evaluation of our mobile sensing system that is low cost (< 35 USD), easy-to-use (SUS score of 89.3) and accurate. Our initial testing suggests that the sensor is able to measure electrical conductivity with < 3% root mean squared percentage error compared to a lab-based instrument. We believe our approach will empower a large group of people to contribute to water quality measurements. I would like to recognise the invaluable assistance of Dominic Clark and Mahin Ali from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in performing laboratory experiments. Furthermore, I should also appreciate all the participants who took their valuable time to provide me with feedback.Lastly, I want to thank my family, who stood behind me despite the thousands of miles of separation.xi