Flow Rate Monitoring to Minimize Water Pollution - Application Note

A wastewater management district in Cleveland contacted CAS DataLoggers to supply an automated flow rate monitoring solution in a channel in their environmental project. In most cities, sanitary sewers and storm sewers were separate, so that storm water was diverted into a nearby lake. However, Cleveland had only one sewer available, so all of the flow went to the sewage treatment plant. In times of heavy rainfall, the plant was not equipped to handle the deluge, so the overflow sewage emptied directly into the lake. Therefore, to minimize this water pollution, the district needed to measure the flow rate in a water channel prior to emptying into the tunnels. Workers needed an all-in-one system which could continually monitor the channel’s water levels and flow and support data collection via USB. Ethernet communications could not be continuously maintained, and the device would be moved too often to make RS-232 communication feasible.