In-situ Total Nutrient Analyser System for Natural Waters: H2OMon

Programme(s): H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies

Topic(s): EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 - SME instrument

Call for proposal: H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2

Funding Scheme: SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

Grant agreement ID: 880886

Project description:

Real-time remote monitoring of water

The main aim of EU water policy is to ensure that a sufficient quantity of good-quality water is available for both people's needs and the environment. The most commonly used method for measuring pollutants is the physical collection of a sample that is analysed in a laboratory, but this is costly and may take several days for results to become available. The EU-funded H2OMon project is developing a low-cost in-situ
alternative. It’s a multi-parameter nutrient water pollutant monitoring system that features high-frequency measurements over long deployment periods. This means water quality in lakes, rivers and coastal zones can be monitored remotely. What is more, an in-built communication system can alert authorities when a pollutant is detected.

Objective:

The H20Mon project will address the findings of an in-house feasibility study conducted by Tellab and enable rapid commercialisation of our low-cost in-situ multi-parameter nutrient water pollutant monitoring system.
The most commonly used method for measuring pollutants is the physical collection of a sample that is then analysed in a laboratory. This has a number of disadvantages, including cost, the results often become available only after several days and that it only shows a snapshot of the situation at the instant of sampling.
The complexity, short deployment endurance and high cost of current in-situ monitoring systems make them unaffordable and impractical for many users to put into practice - especially true for small operations. Also, many current systems themselves create pollution due to the emission of chemical reagents used in the analysis.
The H20Mon integrated nitrate/phosphorous/ammonia all natural water monitoring system, is rooted in the clear market-pull caused by the industrial and domestic need to comply with increasingly tightly policed water nutrient pollution regulations, infringements of which carry heavy fines.
Our solution is a multi-parameter autonomous microfluidic device with in-situ calibration and high -frequency measurements over long deployment periods. Its in-built communication system and process control add-on enable the user to remotely monitor water quality in lakes, rivers, estuaries and coastal zones; alerting them via immediate warning on the detection of a pollutant and enabling immediate action to be taken to limit environmental damage.
H20Mon can reduce operating costs by 5%, saving users up to €125,000 p.a. The solution addresses the large and growing in-situ water monitoring market, which is projected to increase from €875m to over €1bn in 2021. Through the H20Mon project, we expect to create accumulated revenue of €27.3m and profit of €18.6m over 5 years creating 22 FTEs in our firm and c.150 in our supply chain.