Low-Cost Groundwater Sensors

Purdue University Has Introduced a 3D-Printed Groundwater Sensor

A Purdue University researcher introduced a patent-pending, 3D-printed groundwater sensor designed to monitor the speed and direction of subsurface water movement at a fraction of the cost of specialized alternatives. Developed by Jacob Hosen and Zaven Arra, the device can be produced for a few hundred dollars using lab-printed housings and circuit boards equipped with arrays of temperature sensors.

The textured housing is designed to recreate the surrounding soil environment without disrupting natural water flow. Components can be assembled in-house, enabling rapid design changes without relying on external manufacturing. The sensors transmit data wirelessly over LoRa networks while storing information locally as a backup, and initial testing showed continuous underwater operation for seven to eight months.

For researchers and environmental agencies, the lower-cost design could support more distributed monitoring of groundwater movement, contamination and wetland hydrology. The team is pursuing patent protection to preserve the technology’s intended open-source availability.

前往原文 ↗