Univ. of Florida researchers develop inexpensive water quality monitor

FLORIDA -- University of Florida scientists have developed an inexpensive device to monitor water quality.

For as little as $1,500, the Gainesville Sun reports that Eban Bean, UF/IFAS assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering (ABE), is working with Piyush Agade, an ABE doctoral student to develop "GatorByte," a water-quality buoy device.

The device can be placed anywhere at the top of a watershed, where stormwater flow will carry the GatorByte buoys downstream to map the quality of the watershed. Following significant rainfall, the units can be collected and re-deployed to other areas.

The device incorporates GPS and cellular communication to make tracking and recovering the unit possible. Data from GatorByte is sent to the cloud in real time using a cellular signal and includes on-board data storage for backup if there is no cellular signal.