The objectives of this project included (1) to evaluate the automatic water-quality sampling and monitoring techniques, and (2) to plan suitable monitoring systems for natural water bodies of Taiwan. Several related cases were collected and analyzed from many countries, including the Unites States, Australia, Japan, Mainland China, Canada and Belgian. Through these case studies, this project pictured the core objectives and managerial frameworks for the installation of automatic water quality monitoring systems. The project team had also visited several institutions of Taiwan, including Ping-Lin Traffic Control Center, Li-Yu-Tan Reservoir, Shih-Men Reservoir, Nan-Hua Reservoir and Southern Science Park, which have automatic water quality monitoring systems on operation. Through the visits, the project team had collected the practical information about the on-site operation and utilized them for the following planning works. In addition, in order to understand the functions and specs of the existing water quality monitoring instruments and equipments, related suppliers interviews and experience exchange meetings were conducted. According to the practical operation experience collected from those interviews and meetings, the project team conducted the planning work for the future installation of the monitoring system in Taiwan. To cope with the planning work, two conferences with automatic monitoring experts and scholars were held, so the project team could justify the planning directions and pilot study in the future. Based on the observations of this project, it was concluded that the framework of the automatic water-quality monitoring system could be classified into six parts, including sampling system, testing system, dosing & preservation system, supportive system, data transmission system and control system. The major monitoring items could be focused on pH, DO, Temperature, Turbidity and Conductivity. In short-term, a pilot study could be practiced in areas where water source protection is the main objective. After evaluation, the Chin-Tan Dam in Taipei Country was highly recommended to set up an automatic water-quality monitoring system. By the pilot study, it would be possible to accumulate operational experience and establish a QA/QC model as the key reference of setting a full-scale automated monitoring system in the near future.

Automatic Water-Quality Monitoring, Sampling and Preserving Equipment, Wireless transmission