IIITMK and IBM India Develop Real-Time Water Quality Measurement System

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management – Kerala (IIITM-K), an autonomous institute of the government of Kerala, and technology giant IBM have developed a real-time water quality management system that is faster, cheaper and more accessible than conventional methods of testing water samples.
‘Swatchpaani’, powered by IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, can continuously monitor water quality and measure temperature, pH and the presence of various metal/non-metal substances in the water, to ensure that the levels do not exceed standards prescribed by agencies.
It supports data analysis in real-time and trigger alerts if there are anomalies in the water samples. The project also incorporates a pre-screening mechanism to test the water quality of mobile water distribution systems.
Swatchpaani includes Libelium, signal conditioning boards and sensors and Raspberry Pi for connecting these to IBM Bluemix Cloud services and Watson IoT platform for device and sensor data management, analysis and visualization.
Dr. Asharaf, Principal Investigator, Swatchpaani Project, IIITM-K, said the solution could potentially save time and costs of water quality management.
“The conventional method of testing water quality is often inaccessible and time consuming. In this context, Swatchpaani offers a convenient, mobile, quick and cost effective solution for the pre-screening of water samples. The extensive lab tests may be mandated only when the pre-screening signals a potential threat,” he said.
“The IBM Watson IoT platform is an easy-to-use, secure and
scalable solution which provides seamless integration with various IoT devices to build specialized, integrated solutions to solve industry and business challenges. The Swachpaani project is one such result on Watson IoT that demonstrates the impact technology can bring to the life of an individual. IBM India continues to work with academia to create useful and meaningful innovation based on Watson technologies,” said Devkant Aggarwal, Manager, University Relations, IBM India.