Chlorine monitoring in water with high Mn/Fe salts!

In 2012, Intellitect Water launched the new V2 Intellisonde (IV2) in-pipe water quality monitor, which offered two new advantages; retained calibration data and improved chlorine measurement. Since that time, IV2 sondes have been successfully installed around the world offering users easier access to water quality data. However, now that the IV2 sondes have been in operation for nearly a year, one of the key benefits of the latest sensor technology has proven to be its ability to operate very well in a variety of conditions, including water containing high levels of manganese and iron salts.

The chlorine monitoring problems associated with manganese and iron have been well known for many years, so the Intellitect development team gave this a high priority, and Intellisondes now feature a unique electrochemical configuration that effectively eliminates the issues experienced by traditional sensors.

The problems caused by these salts are the result of metal deposition on sensor electrodes, and whilst some of this will re-dissolve, the time taken for equilibrium to be achieved means that these sensors suffer from long settling times and can fail completely. In contrast, the Intellisonde chlorine sensor efficiently reaches equilibrium and operates over an extended lifetime compared with other equipment.

Figure 1, above, shows Intellisonde measurements of free chlorine in potable water with very high iron/manganese concentrations, demonstrating its effectiveness over the lifetime of the chlorine sensor. Commenting on the data, Intellitect’s Jo Cooper says: “Clients with high levels of manganese or iron salts have been delighted with the performance of the Intellisondes in comparison with traditional technologies, and the facility to measure other parameters has proved very popular because it enables easy evaluation of processes such as flushing.”

The head of an Intellisonde is a mere 3.6cm in diameter, but fully populated can provide continuous water quality data for up to 12 parameters. Measurement options include Free Chlorine, Mono-chloramine, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, ORP/Redox, Flow, Pressure, Temperature, Turbidity and Colour. An ISE channel is also available for Fluoride, Nitrate or Ammonium.

No chemicals or membranes are necessary to operate or calibrate the Intellisonde sensors, and they are quickly and easily replaced at the end of their service lives. The reference electrode, chlorine and dissolved oxygen sensors are replaced after 6 months; pH/ORP and ISE after 1 year; and the conductivity sensor is replaced after 2 years.

New technology for water monitoring in Russia

A new distribution partnership in Russia for the Intellitect Water's flagship Intellisonde™ in-pipe water quality monitor has been announced

The Intellisonde™ is designed to provide water organisations with more efficient access to drinking water quality data and will now be distributed across municipal sectors in Russia by Ekaterinburg based company Aquatech.

Developed to continuously monitor in-pipe water within drinking water distribution networks, the Intellisonde™ is a small water quality monitor that can be inserted into pressurised pipes to monitor up to 12 parameters.

Liza Lozhnikova, from Aquatech’s Water Quality Monitoring Department, believes that the Intellitect technology can help improve the way drinking water is monitored in Russia. “In-pipe water quality monitoring is a massive challenge across the country, mainly due to the vast water supply network, which consists of over 500,000km of piping,” she said.

“We are very excited about this new technology because the Intellisonde™ will reveal the quality of drinking water between treatment plants and the consumer for the first time.”

Tony Halker Intellitect Water’s CEO, added: “We are very pleased to announce another new distribution partnership for the Intellisonde™. The Russian market represents enormous potential for the Intellisonde™ because a great deal of work is currently being undertaken to improve drinking water quality and this technology can help to ensure that such work is cost-effective. The visibility of water quality within the distribution network helps to reduce the cost of water treatment and network management is greatly enhanced because managers are able to identify potential problems much earlier than has ever been possible before. ”

Water monitoring

New communication options for water monitoring technology

Instrumentation company Intellitect Water has announced that the innovative multiparameter water quality monitor, the Intellisonde™ is now available with a broad selection of communication choices.

Responding to specific customer requests, options now include GPRS, RS232 or RS485 Serial outputs, Analogue Outputs and Ethernet. "As a result, Intellisondes™ can now interface with almost any SCADA system or data collection platform, so in tandem with the internal logging facility, the monitors represent an extremely reliable method of water quality data collection," says Technical Director David Vincent.

The instrumentation now has two analogue inputs available for external sensors such as pressure transducers, and 12 analogue voltage outputs that can be connected to the common telemetry loggers.

Developed to continuously monitor up to 12 parameters within drinking water distribution networks, the Intellisonde™ is a small water quality monitor that can be inserted into pressurised pipes through a 1½ inch valve. Measurement options include Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Mono-chloramine, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, ORP/Redox, Flow, Pressure, Temperature, Turbidity and Colour. Importantly, none of these requires membranes or reagents and the sondes can be deployed for long periods without the need for frequent recalibration or maintenance.

Water security in the US

Advanced monitoring technology helps improve water security

As part of the homeland security activity in the United States, their Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to test commercially available water quality sensors for their ability to provide a warning alarm due to deliberate or unintentional contamination events within a drinking water system. The Intellisonde™ in-pipe water quality monitor from Intellitect Water is one of several instruments being assessed by the US EPA in a simulated network at its Ohio Test and Evaluation Facility.

The project's work on water quality sensors is in support of the Water Security Initiative, which is developing contaminant warning systems and addressing the risk of intentional contamination in drinking water distribution systems.

The trial with the Intellisonde has been underway for over a year. Summarising the Intellisonde’s™ preliminary results, the EPA's John Hall says; “We have monitored a number of parameters such as pH, Conductivity, ORP and Temperature, however, the Chlorine and Flow data have proved to be particularly useful. Free Chlorine levels, for example, are significantly affected by a broad range of contaminants and the flow data can be used to reduce alarms due to operational events.


“Overall, the Intellisonde™ has provided reliable chlorine data for over 6 months without changing the probe, which represents an improvement in this principle of detection. Wide-spread deployment of solid state chlorine probes within the US water distribution network will be dependent largely on the reliability of the data and the cost of operation and maintenance for the sensor.

“Additionally, the Intellisonde™ has been easy to use once aligned in the pipe properly and we look forward to reporting further findings as the project progresses.”

Developed to continuously monitor up to 12 parameters within drinking water distribution networks, the Intellisonde™ is a small water quality monitor that can be inserted into pressurised pipes through a 1½ inch valve. Measurement options include Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Mono-chloramine, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, ORP/Redox, Flow, Pressure, Temperature, Turbidity and Colour. Importantly, none of these requires membranes or reagents and the sondes can be deployed for long periods without the need for frequent recalibration or maintenance.

New distribution deals to help manage Italian water

Intellect Water has announced two new distribution partnerships with Italian companies for the highly innovative Intellisonde™ in-pipe water quality monitors.

The Intellisonde™ is designed to provide water companies with more efficient access to drinking water quality data and will now be distributed across both municipal and industrial sectors in Italy by the experienced teams at Genoa-based Ast Analytica and Milan company Bimatik.

Developed to continuously monitor in-pipe water within drinking water distribution networks, the Intellisonde™ is a small water quality monitor that can be inserted into pressurised pipes to monitor up to 12 parameters.

Maurizio Chioetto, CEO of Ast Analytica, which was founded 30 years ago, explained that the instrumentation will bring numerous benefits to the Italian water sector. He said: “We are delighted to be entering into this exciting new partnership as an official distributor of the Intellisonde™. The ability to measure water quality in-pipe will be a major benefit to a wide variety of industrial sectors.”

Enrico Bertocchi, Director at Bimatik, added: “We are very pleased to be working with Intellitect and we have already received interest regarding the Intellisonde™. We are very excited about the prospect for this technology because it will, for the first time, provide access to water quality data after the treatment plant and before the customer’s tap.”


Steve Gill, Intellitect Water’s Business Development Director, added: "Ast Analytica and Bimatik will work closely but serve different customers, as we expand our distribution network across Europe.


“The ability to monitor water quality continuously in the distribution network will provide vital access to tap water quality data and offers the potential for improvements in operational efficiency and considerable cost savings.”

Uniquely, the Intellisonde™ technology offers utilities the ability to monitor water quality in the many thousands of miles of pipe that carry water to industrial and domestic consumers. This reduces the cost of water treatment, improves water quality and aids the management of water distribution networks.

New communication option for water quality loggers

Innovative water quality instrumentation company, Intellitect Water, has increased the flexibility and compatibility of its flagship product, the Intellisonde™. An optional voltage output card can now be fitted internally to enable data communication with PLCs and other dataloggers.

Commenting on the announcement, the company's Operations Director John Howell said, "Many of our clients already have data-logging and communications infrastructure in place so they do not need to utilise RS232 or GPRS. Instead, the new output card provides a voltage signal for each of the sensors, which further helps to lower the cost of water quality monitoring."

The Intellisonde™ features up to 12 sensors in a tiny sonde head that inserts directly into a pipeline, logging water quality data and providing remote access to the data through a variety of communication options.

The optional Analogue Output Card provides up to 12 channels (0 to 2.5V) and can be fitted on request to allow simple connection to other data-loggers and programmable logic controllers.

Uniquely, the Intellisonde™ technology offers utilities the ability to monitor water quality in the many thousands of miles of pipe that carry water to industrial and domestic consumers. This reduces the cost of water treatment, improves water quality and aids the management of water distribution networks.

Water monitoring appointment

Intellitect Water continues growth with new appointment

Intellitect Water has appointed Alan Pickett to the role of Senior Sales Executive, to support rapid growth in the sales of its unique in-pipe water monitoring technology.

Alan joins Intellitect from similar roles previously held at Severn Trent Services and Siemens Water Technologies and will help to expand sales coverage across Britain.

The appointment follows a £2million funding injection earlier this year to meet demand for Intellitect’s flagship Intellisonde™ product.

Commenting on his appointment Alan said: “Following a career in the water industry spanning more than 15 years, I have gained a wealth of experience which I feel will be invaluable in interpreting the specific needs of our customers. “With the knowledge I have acquired I feel able to offer potential customers sound guidance with regards to using the Intellitect range of instruments to their best advantage to ensure efficient monitoring contributes to the water in distribution being maintained to the highest quality. “I am very excited to be involved in one of the most important developments in water monitoring that the industry has seen for decades.”

Drinking water helped

New funding for growth in water monitoring technology
From left, Mark Reynolds (Investment Director,Pemberstone), Ray Harris (Investment Director, Catapult), Tony Halker (CEO,Intellitect Water) and Peter Bridge (Non-Executive Director, IntellitectWater).

Innovative monitoring instrumentation company, Intellitect Water has announced a funding injection of over £2 million to support rapid growth in sales of the company's unique drinking water monitoring technology.

The company's flagship product, the Intellisonde™ features up to 12 sensors in a tiny sonde head that inserts directly into a pipeline. It logs water quality data and provides remote access to the data through a variety of telecommunication options.

Uniquely, the Intellisonde™ technology offers utilities the ability to monitor water quality in the many thousands of miles of pipe that carry water to industrial and domestic consumers. This reduces the cost of water treatment, improves water quality and aids the management of water distribution networks.

Measurement options include Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Mono-chloramine, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, ORP/Redox, Flow, Pressure, Temperature, Turbidity and Colour. Importantly, none of these requires membranes or reagents for operation and the sondes can be deployed for long periods without the need for frequent recalibration or maintenance.

Commenting on the new funding requirement, Intellitect Water CEO Tony Halker says, "Intellisondes™ have been trialled successfully both in the UK and overseas, and we are now expanding the capacity of our sales department and ramping up production capability in order to be able to meet the needs of the market."

The new funding is comprised of capital from existing investors in addition to a £1 million commitment from Catapult Venture Manager, which specialises in SME technology businesses with rapid growth potential. Catapult's Investment Director Ray Harris says, "We are excited to become involved with Intellitect Water as the company moves from the development stage to growth. This business has a strong management team and the products have been extremely well received in the target markets, so the prospects for the future look very good."