Water quality monitoring of Baroon Pocket dam on the Sunshine Coast is set to improve with the installation of new wireless monitoring system by Seqwater.
Seqwater is installing a Vertical Profiling System (VPS), a real time water quality data collection and early warning system, in the dam. The system will be secured to a floating pontoon.Seqwater Land and Water Quality Manager, Dr Peter Schneider said the new high-tech monitoring equipment would allow Seqwater to measure water quality in greater detail.
“The VPS contains a robust set of sensors which are submerged to track water quality at various depths. It will allow our staff to view data collection from Lake Baroon in real time, providing a much faster analysis and better understanding of the impact of inflows on water quality,” Dr Schneider said.
“It will also provide us with better knowledge of water quality throughout the entire water column, helping to improve decisions on water abstraction to potentially reduce water treatment costs.
“Importantly it will also act as an early warning detection system for public health issues such as levels of blue-green algae in the dam.”
Dr Schneider added: “This new equipment will give us real time water quality data to track inflow events and importantly the impact of that inflow.”
Valued at approximately $150,000 each, this is the seventh electronic VPS Seqwater has installed in its dam storages across South-East Queensland and the first for the Sunshine Coast.
Seqwater manages and operates all dams and treatment plants across South East Queensland, including Baroon Pocket, Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams, as well as 46 water treatment plant facilities, 49 weirs and 14 groundwater bore fields.