Lake Innes: Revive Lake Cathie launches new technology to test water quality in real-time
A groundbreaking piece of technology that runs on energy powered by the sun will be a critical tool in reviving the state of a degrading Mid-North Coast lake.
Mid-North Coast
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One of the most passionate and hardworking community groups on the Mid-North Coast has made a technological breakthrough in the fight to save a rapidly deteriorating body of water.
The team behind Revive Lake Cathie has launched a groundbreaking piece of technology housed within the Lake Innes estuary that will monitor, in real-time, the quality of the system and feed the data back to a team of specialists to monitor changes, and act accordingly.
It is the first time the team will be able to test the water’s purity without conducting laborious and less accurate manual sampling.
Revive Lake Cathie President Danielle Maltman said the new sensor, funded by a $45,000 state and federal grant, will be a “game changer” for her team’s efforts in advocating for the health of the lake.
“The information collected from this sensor will give us the ammunition we need to start rattling some cages and making our voices heard about the degrading quality of this once pristine body of water,” she said.
“By being able to feed the data straight into a digital platform, we’ll be able to present hard and fast facts about our research so that we can better educate the public about the effects everyday human behaviour is having on the lake.”
Ms Maltman said surfactant (detergent) run-off from the overuse of everyday household chemicals such as garden fertilisers, pesticides and car washing was having a devastating effect on the water quality and marine life.
She said the chemical levels within the lake was proving problematic.
“Chemical surfactant run off rates so highly in Lake Cathie and Lake Innes … it is very problematic.”
Revive Lake Cathie’s NSW Waterwatch program is a citizen science program where volunteers are trained in taking water samples, performing chemical testing and collating data by NSW Waterwatch scientists with data qualified before being made available to the public.
Volunteers are guided by Revive Lake Cathie’s Environmental Scientist Peter Fitzroy with results qualified by Revive Lake Cathie’s Marine Biologist Dr Deb Geronimi.
Mr Fitzroy said the new sensor will be able to perform at a level ‘over and above’ the team’s current manual regimen.
“Manly Hydraulics currently only test water temperature, conductivity, salinity and water height at Ocean Drive Bridge for Port Macquarie-Hastings Council,” he said.
“The Remote Smart Water Quality Sensor Monitor will assist Revive Lake Cathie’s NSW Waterwatch program in undertaking a broader daily testing data collection program over and above present testing within Lake Innes.”
Ms Geronomi said the recent flooding across large parts of the Mid-North Coast had exacerbated the poor performance of the water quality.
“Following the recent flooding event, chemical pollutants are very evident on the surface of the Lake,” she said.
“The mixing of the fertilisers and detergents (surfactants) below the surface combined with the presence of acid sulphate soil contamination is causing absolute carnage for the entire system.”
The Remote Smart Water Quality Sensor Monitor will test pH, Oxygen, water temperature, conductivity, salinity, turbidity and water levels.
It’s solar panelled top generates power from the sun which feeds into a long-lasting lithium battery. The information obtained from the water testing is then fed back to a centralised digital system and publicly reported via Revive Lake Cathie’s website, and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s Lake Cathie Management page.
Access to these results provides both the community, scientists, researchers, various government agencies and school students with adequate, real-time facts about the lake’s health.
The Remote Smart Water Quality Sensor Monitor is a collaboration between Revive Lake Cathie, Southern Cross University (SCU) and Local, State and Federal Governments.
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