Automated biomonitoring systems use living organisms to assess water quality automatically on a real time basis. Applications for such systems include the monitoring of drinking water sources for intake protection, the monitoring of wastewater discharges, and watershed protection, among others. Research and development in this field dates back to the early 1900's and continue today. Several such systems are commercially available and operating on-line. This presentation highlights some of these systems, including their desired characteristics.
Response depends upon the dose, exposure duration, and bioavailability of the toxicants tested.
In general, response time was 10 minutes or less when exposures approached LC50 values and 4 hours when exposures approached LOEC values. During the last 15 years many attempts have been made to create robotic units to provide remotely real time WQM from surface to bottom. The use of winch systems provided a short-term solution due to high power requirements, biofouling, wave action and other interferences. A computer on board the buoy controls a high-pressure system inside the Profiler that pumps water in or out changing the buoyancy of the Profiler and therefore, its position along the water column. New technologies for characterization and monitoring activities at brownfields sites promise to result in substantial cost savings, especially in the time required to make clean up decisions.