BridgeWater Canal Water Quality Testing
The ARGES Water Quality kit was deployed at Bridgewater Canal at Astley at various times in June 2025 onwards in order examine a canal for pollution and water quality
The kit was laboratory calibrated just prior to the deployment. Of particular interest for this investigation was the level of background sewage in the water and fertiliser run-off from the nearby fields.
Measurement System
A wide range of sensors were used at various times at the Bridgewater Canal in order to record the water quality. The ARGES Multiparameter SONDE deployed at the canal was configured to monitor for Sewage, Potassium, Nitrates, Ammonia, pH and Turbidity. The fluorometer optics are cleaned automatically by the brush unit before a measurement was made.
Test site by the canal boats was carefully chosen to ensure that the water is of a suitable depth for the measurements to be made and suitable shade for the fluorometer operations.
Several real-time multiparameter sensors were used at the Bridgewater Canal and the results obtained can be seen on the Windows Laptop Screen. All of the other ARGES Water Quality sensors respond immediately upon insertion into the river. The images below show a sample of the results recorded at the canal.
The Bridgewater canal at Astley has relatively low levels of sewage in the water and there was no indication that canal boat traffic was releasing raw sewage into the water at the time of the measurements.