What types of potable water monitors and sensors exist to test what is
in the water rather than the flow rate of the water?  I am looking for
things more along the line of biological or chemicals in the water. 
They may be called active sensors or smart sensors

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 28 Feb 2005 19:01 PST

awoo-ga,

There are a number of different categories of water monitoring/testing
technologies, and within each category, lots of options for testing. 
For instance, there are:

--broad spectrum toxicity tests -- these will let you know if water is
chemically poisonous or not, but don't identify the specific chemicals
in the water.

--categorical tests will measure levels of specific categories of
pollutants such as COD (chemical oxygen demand), and indication of how
much organic matter is in the water.

--chemical-specific tests will look for individual pollutants, such as
a test for PCB's.

--broad spectrum tests can find lots of things, but usually involve
fairly sophisticated technologies, like gas chromatographs.

--there are also tests for things like pH, and salinity, which are
also indicators of pollution.


There are too many types of monitors in each category to provide any
sort of comprehensive list in an answer to your question.

Can you let us know what your priorities are in terms of finding about
these different categories, and the monitoring tools in each category?

Thanks.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by awoo-ga on 01 Mar 2005 08:11 PST

are all of these sensoring and monitoring used for potable water?  I
am looking for types that are strictly used for potable water.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 02 Mar 2005 04:07 PST

Yes, they can all be used for potable water, although I'm not sure
that all of them are available in portable (handheld) formats.

Perhaps you can let me know a bit more about your interest in this
topic -- is there a particual field situation in which you need to
assess a source of drinking water?  Is this an assessment for
regulatory purposes?  For the purpose of knowing whether an unknown
source of water is potable or not?

Any additional details will help me to focus the research on this
interesting question of yours.

Thanks.

paf