HOw we Started
Our original logo and name. Champ, the Lake Champlain monster, holding a submersible algal sensor system (aka BTV-SASS)
In the spring of 2019, we received a gift from the Lintilhac Foundation to design a water quality sensor that could be used along Burlington’s (Vermont) waterfront. Our intent was to design a low-cost sensor system that could help monitor cyanobacteria and algal blooms. The sensor was designed to transmit data in real-time via a radio signal that get’s picked up at the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory.
This research was need because algal and cyanobacteria blooms are impacted recreational activities along Burlington’s waterfront and conditions don’t always allow for blooms to be observed by sight. Hence, our hope was to design a sensor that could monitor water quality in all conditions and throughout the day and night.
Our initial design was based off two published open source design. Each of which, we customized and adjusted for our sensor system
L. A. Porter, C. A. Chapman, and J. A. Alaniz, “Simple and Inexpensive 3D Printed Filter Fluorometer Designs: User-Friendly Instrument Models for Laboratory Learning and Outreach Activities,” J. Chem. Educ., vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 105–111, Jan. 2017, doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00495.
T. Leeuw, E. Boss, and D. Wright, “In situ Measurements of Phytoplankton Fluorescence Using Low Cost Electronics,” Sensors, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 7872–7883, Jun. 2013, doi: 10.3390/s130607872.
Following in these inspirational works, Our Clarity sensor systems will also be an open science, open source designs.
See the blog post: And 5 years later for the design store of how the submersible algal sensing system became Clarity Water Monitoring