EU grant goes to Austrian company to deploy smart water sensors in the Netherlands

Austria-based s::can has won a grant from the European Union (EU) under the FP7 programme to install a grid of smart water quality sensors in Vitens’ water distribution network in the Netherlands.

Vitens water utility company will use s::can’s smart water sensors in the province of Friesland, a 2,300km distribution network serving over 200,000 households.

The new smart water quality sensors are mini spectrometers that combine LED technology with modern optical measurements to read water quality.

s::can’s sensors will be inserted directly into pressurised water pipes to help the water utility monitor and investigate the water quality.

The technology can accurately measure colour, the presence of certain organics (chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon) and the turbidity of the water.

s::can claims the water sensors are cost efficient and will modernise the process of monitoring water quality.

Vitens innovation manager Erik Driessen said: "The installation of a grid of water quality sensors will allow us to actively manage our water supply distribution networks based on real time status data."

s::can develops submersible online spectrometer probes, water protection systems and event detection software.

The company’s spectrolysers are used in a large number of water quality monitoring projects in the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Cincinnati, Vienna and Beijing.

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Image: Vitens will use s::can’s smart water sensors to read water quality of its distribution network in the Netherlands. Photo: courtesy of Abe Maaijen.