AQUARIUS - Broadband Tunable QCL based Sensor for Online and Inline Detection of Contaminants in Water
AQUARIUS addresses the development of a new generation of photonic sensing solution, in response to the need for pervasive sensing for a safer environment. In particular components, modules, sub-systems and systems shall be developed for enhanced sensitivity and specificity in water monitoring following the requirements of regulatory bodies, as well as the needs of selected end-users such as waterworks and the oil producing industry. Specifically addressed within the AQUARIUS project is the detection of hydrocarbon contaminations in water (Oil-in-Water contaminations). While most current laboratory with analytical techniques can in principle handle these tasks, they are often labour and cost intensive as well as time consuming. In most cases they require samples to be taken at e.g. the water works facility and then transferred to the analytical laboratory. Therefore it would be very helpful if on- or even inline analytical sensors with high sensitivity were available, allowing for a reliable and continuous real-time monitoring on site.