Challenge

Because of above normal rainfall in Southern California during the testing period, the team had to overcome unforgiving, adverse conditions to collect the required data. They explored a variety of devices to retrieve the data from the probes. Laptops proved to be too bulky and unfit for the adverse conditions. Interfacing with the water probes had to be done on the water in boats.

Solution

The team objective was to help water utilities adopt a common set of best practices for water reclamation. To provide these best practices, they required a lot of instrumentation to record and collect data in diverse environments. They used the Amphibian 2, a custom version of the Archer 2 Rugged Handheld by Juniper Systems, from Eureka Water Probes to conduct their research. “Ultimately, the Amphibian 2 was the best choice for GPS accuracy, rejecting stray signals, and being resistant from error that comes from the satellites in our area,” said Dr. James. “The rugged nature of the device also stuck out as a positive.”

Further, the researchers were pleasantly surprised with how straightforward it was to use the Amphibian 2. “This device was easy to setup, connect with the sensor, and was stable for the extensive 12-hour days we worked,” said Ali Saber Sichani, a research student who assisted in the study. “In such conditions, the Amphibian 2 thrives with a long-lasting battery to capture critical GPS coordinates, making it simple for profiling and measuring other quality constituents of the study.”

Results

To make water more accessible to the people of California and other Southern States, the water system needs to change. The researchers were highly successful in collecting gigabytes worth of data to validate a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of best practices for tracer and hydrodynamic studies to reuse water. The Amphibian 2 was instrumental in understanding how water reuse can provide for the growing population.