A waterproof biological attachment underwater sensor for polluted river

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of underwater sensors for preventing water biological attachment of polluted river, including light-proof cabin, sensor cabin, multiple sensor fixing seat, concentrator box, measuring rod, water quality sensor and hydrological sensor.The utility model reduces microbial attachment by anti-attachment coating and multilayer water-permeable structure design, guarantees dissolved oxygen, PH and other index measurement accuracy, reduces maintenance frequency and cost, avoids data distortion, provides continuous reliable data for polluted river monitoring, improves water quality management efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of polluted river treatment technology, specifically to a waterproof bio-attached underwater sensor for polluted rivers. Background Technology

[0002] By using underwater sensors to monitor water quality indicators (such as COD, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and heavy metal concentrations) in real time, it is possible to accurately locate pollution sources, identify the types of major pollutants and their concentration patterns. This provides a scientific basis for developing targeted treatment plans (such as interception and collection of sewage, dredging, and ecological restoration), preventing the blind implementation of treatment efforts. During the treatment of polluted rivers, water quality measurement data can objectively reflect the effectiveness of treatment measures, allowing for dynamic adjustments to treatment strategies and improved treatment efficiency.

[0003] Polluted river waters are rich in nutrients, making it easy for microorganisms, algae, and aquatic plant debris to adhere to and grow on sensor surfaces, forming biofilms. In the eutrophic environment of polluted rivers, biofilm formation poses a significant "invisible threat" to underwater sensors, with its growth and expansion exhibiting remarkable dynamism and destructiveness. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in these waters provide an ideal breeding ground for microbial communities. When a sensor is submerged, within just a few hours, planktonic bacteria and fungi in the water will initially colonize the sensor surface using Brownian motion, secreting sticky extracellular polymers (EPS) containing polysaccharides and proteins, effectively giving the sensor an "invisible coat." Over time, algal spores, protozoa, and aquatic plant debris are adsorbed by the sticky matrix, gradually forming a multi-layered biofilm structure composed of microorganisms, organic debris, and inorganic particles, reaching a thickness of hundreds of micrometers. This biofilm grows faster with increasing water temperature and sunlight. During the high temperatures of summer, in some severely polluted rivers, a visible green or brown film can even form on the sensor surface within 72 hours. This type of biofilm has a highly targeted and destructive effect on sensors. For dissolved oxygen sensors, the core working principle is the exchange of oxygen molecules between the water and the electrode through a breathable membrane. However, the biofilm directly blocks the oxygen transfer channel: the microbial community on the membrane surface consumes the surrounding dissolved oxygen for metabolic activities, creating a localized hypoxic microenvironment. This causes the sensor's measured value to be consistently lower than the actual oxygen content of the water, with errors exceeding 30%. In severe cases, it can even misclassify oxygen-rich water as anaerobic. The glass electrode of a pH sensor is even more susceptible to biofilm damage. The biofilm on the electrode surface not only physically blocks direct contact between the water and the electrode, but the organic acids and ammonia produced by its metabolism also alter the local pH around the electrode, causing the electrode response time to be delayed from the normal seconds to minutes, completely losing its real-time monitoring capability during drastic fluctuations in water quality. For optical sensors such as those measuring turbidity and chlorophyll, biofilms can directly cover the optical window, scattering or absorbing the measurement beam, causing turbidity measurements to be falsely high and chlorophyll concentration detection to be inaccurate. Sensors originally intended to provide early warning of cyanobacterial blooms may miss the best time to take action due to data distortion. Biofilm growth also triggers a chain reaction of maintenance challenges and increased economic costs. To maintain measurement accuracy, maintenance personnel need to clean the sensors regularly. However, biofilms in polluted rivers have extremely strong adhesion, and simple rinsing is often insufficient to completely remove them. This frequently requires disassembling sensor components and using brushes, chemical cleaning agents, or even ultrasonic equipment. This not only consumes significant manpower and resources but also extends the sensor's offline time. In severely polluted black and odorous water bodies, the cleaning cycle can be shortened from the usual 1-2 weeks to 3-5 days, greatly increasing the maintenance burden. If cleaning is not timely, the anaerobic microorganisms deep within the biofilm can corrode the sensor's metal interfaces and sealing components, leading to hardware failures such as electrolyte leakage and short circuits, significantly shortening the sensor's lifespan. The replacement cost for some high-precision sensors can reach tens of thousands of yuan, creating a vicious cycle of "the more severe the pollution—the faster the biofilm grows—the higher the maintenance cost—the lower the data reliability." More importantly, data distortion caused by biofilm interference directly affects the scientific validity of pollution control decisions. Low dissolved oxygen levels may mislead treatment departments into over-deploying aeration equipment; the delayed response of pH values ​​can mask the true trend of water acidification or alkalization; and water quality sensors affected by biofilm may even lose their ability to warn of sudden pollution events (such as a sudden drop in pH caused by illegal industrial wastewater discharge), significantly increasing the risk of pollution spread. This measurement bias caused by biofilm attachment undoubtedly presents a hidden yet fatal obstacle to the precise treatment of polluted rivers. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a waterproof underwater sensor for polluted rivers that can effectively resist biofilm growth. Through the anti-adhesion coating and multi-layer permeable structure design, it reduces microbial adhesion, ensures the measurement accuracy of indicators such as dissolved oxygen and pH, reduces maintenance frequency and cost, avoids data distortion, provides continuous and reliable data for monitoring polluted rivers, and improves the efficiency of water quality management.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned technical objectives, the technical solution adopted by this utility model is as follows: A waterproof bio-attached underwater sensor for polluted waterways, characterized in that the waterproof bio-attached underwater sensor includes a light-proof chamber, a sensor chamber, multiple sensor mounting bases, a junction box, a measuring rod, a water quality sensor, and a hydrological sensor; The bottom of the light-shielding chamber is provided with a groove, and several first through holes are opened on the side wall of the groove; water flows into the light-shielding chamber through the first through holes; The sensor compartment is cylindrical and fixed above the light-shielding compartment. It extends to the side wall of the light-shielding compartment and has a second through hole, and a third through hole at the bottom, so that its internal space is connected to the light-shielding compartment. The light-shielding compartment is connected to the sensor compartment through the second and third through holes. Multiple sensor mounts are circumferentially distributed inside the sensor compartment. Each sensor mount has a fourth through hole and a fifth through hole on its lower side wall and bottom, respectively. Water quality sensors and water level sensors are distributed in multiple sensor mounts. The sensor compartment is connected to the sensor mounts through the fourth through hole and the fifth through hole. The sensor compartment has a top cover, the measuring rod stands vertically on the outside of the top cover, and the flow velocity sensor is located at the top of the measuring rod; the junction box is sealed and fixed inside the top cover, and the cables of the water quality sensor and the hydrological sensor are combined into one in the junction box to connect to the data collector placed in the floating body on the water surface.

[0006] Furthermore, the light-shielding chamber includes an intermediate chamber and two water flow buffer zones; The intermediate chamber is rectangular in shape, with the bottom of the sensor compartment inserted into the intermediate chamber and a gap between its bottom and the bottom of the groove; two water flow buffer zones are located at both ends of the intermediate chamber and are cone-shaped.

[0007] Furthermore, the value of the gap ranges from 3 to 5 cm.

[0008] Furthermore, the diameter of the third through hole is larger than the diameter of the second through hole.

[0009] Furthermore, the diameter of the fifth through hole is larger than the diameter of the fourth through hole.

[0010] Furthermore, the fourth through holes on the sensor mounting base are arranged in an array, and the height of the fourth through hole array does not exceed half the height of the sensor mounting base.

[0011] Furthermore, the bottom groove of the light-shielding chamber and the inner side of the light-shielding chamber are coated with an anti-biological coating.

[0012] Furthermore, a connecting plate is welded to the outer side wall of the sensor compartment; The light-shielding chamber has a slot at the top that matches the size of the sensor compartment. The bottom of the sensor compartment passes through the slot into the light-shielding chamber and is fixed to the light-shielding chamber by a connecting plate, so that there is a gap between the bottom of the sensor compartment and the bottom of the light-shielding chamber.

[0013] Furthermore, the water quality sensor includes a dissolved oxygen sensor, a conductivity sensor, a turbidity sensor, a pH sensor, and a chlorophyll sensor, and the hydrological sensor includes a water level sensor and a flow velocity sensor.

[0014] Furthermore, the waterproof bio-attachment underwater sensor is suspended underwater by a steel wire rope fixed to the measuring rod.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: This utility model discloses a waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted rivers. Through an anti-fouling coating and a multi-layer permeable structure design, it minimizes microbial adhesion, ensures the accuracy of water quality indicators such as dissolved oxygen and pH, reduces maintenance frequency and cost, avoids data distortion, provides continuous and reliable data for monitoring polluted rivers, and improves water quality management efficiency. At the same time, the addition of a mechanical flow velocity sensor enables the sensor data transmitted by the waterproof biofouling underwater sensor to calculate pollutant flux without increasing costs excessively, thereby improving the spatiotemporal representativeness and interpretability of the collected water quality concentration data. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the waterproof bio-attached underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to the present invention. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the sediment removal principle of this utility model.

[0017] Attached diagram labels: 1 is the measuring rod, 2 is the junction box, 3 is the sensor compartment, and 4 is the light-proof compartment. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The embodiments of this utility model will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] See Figure 1This utility model discloses a waterproof underwater biofouling sensor for polluted rivers. The waterproof underwater biofouling sensor includes a light-shielding chamber 4, a sensor chamber 3, multiple sensor mounting bases, a junction box 2, a measuring rod 1, a water quality sensor, and a hydrological sensor. The bottom of the light-shielding chamber 4 is provided with a groove, and several first through holes are opened on the side wall of the groove. Water flows into the light-shielding chamber 4 through the first through holes. The sensor chamber 3 is cylindrical and fixed above the light-shielding chamber 4. The lower part of its side wall and the bottom are respectively provided with second through holes and third through holes, so that its internal space is connected to the light-shielding chamber 4. Water in the light-shielding chamber 4 flows through the second through holes. The sensor chamber 3 is connected to the sensor via a third through-hole. Multiple sensor mounts are circumferentially distributed within the sensor chamber 3. Each sensor mount has a fourth through-hole and a fifth through-hole on its lower side wall and bottom, respectively. Water quality sensors are distributed within multiple sensor mounts. Water in the sensor chamber 3 enters the sensor mounts through the fourth and fifth through-holes. The sensor chamber 3 has a top cover. The measuring rod 1 stands vertically on the outside of the top cover, and the flow velocity sensor is located at the upper end of the measuring rod 1. The junction box 2 is sealed and fixed inside the top cover. The cables of the water quality sensor and the hydrological sensor are bundled together in the junction box 2 to connect to the data collector placed in the floating body on the water surface.

[0020] (a) Water quality sensors and hydrological sensors Water quality sensors include dissolved oxygen sensors, conductivity sensors, turbidity sensors, pH sensors, and chlorophyll sensors, while hydrological sensors include water level sensors and flow velocity sensors.

[0021] (ii) Light-proof cabin The light-shielding chamber 4 includes a central chamber and two water flow buffer zones. The central chamber is rectangular in shape, and the bottom of the sensor chamber 3 is inserted into the central chamber with a gap between its bottom and the bottom of the groove. The two water flow buffer zones are located at both ends of the central chamber and are cone-shaped. The gap ranges from 3 to 5 cm.

[0022] The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor is suspended underwater by a steel wire rope fixed to the measuring rod 1. Its recessed groove is located inside the light-proof chamber 4, which slows the water flow before it enters the light-proof chamber 4 through the first through-hole. This significantly reduces the impact force of the water entering the light-proof chamber 4, thereby reducing the amount of aquatic organisms and other large particulate pollutants directly washed into the chamber, effectively performing a first stage of filtration. Preferably, the groove at the bottom of the light-proof chamber 4 and the inner side of the chamber 4 are coated with an anti-biofouling coating to ensure that there is virtually no biofouling inside the chamber.

[0023] (III) Sensor Cabin A connecting plate is welded to the outer side wall of the sensor compartment 3. A slot matching the size of the sensor compartment 3 is provided on the top of the light-shielding chamber 4. The bottom of the sensor compartment 3 passes through the slot into the light-shielding chamber 4 and is fixed to the light-shielding chamber 4 by the connecting plate, creating a gap between the bottom of the sensor compartment 3 and the bottom of the light-shielding chamber 4. A second through-hole and a third through-hole are provided on the side wall and bottom of the sensor compartment 3 extending into the light-shielding chamber 4. The diameter of the third through-hole is larger than that of the second through-hole. After water enters the light-shielding chamber 4, it enters the sensor compartment 3 through the second and third through-holes on its surface. The second and third through-holes further reduce the impact force of the water flow and simultaneously perform a second stage of filtration.

[0024] (iv) Sensor mounting base The bottom of the sensor mounting base has a fifth through hole, and multiple fourth through holes arranged in an array are distributed on the side wall of the sensor mounting base. The diameter of the fifth through hole is larger than the diameter of the fourth through hole. Preferably, the height of the fourth through hole array does not exceed half the height of the sensor mounting base. In this embodiment, the diameter of the fourth through hole is not less than 1 cm, and the opening ratio is not less than 45%. The sensor mounting base is located inside the sensor chamber 3. The working principle of the fourth and fifth through holes on its side wall and bottom is similar to that of the second and third through holes in the sensor chamber 3. When the water flow in the sensor chamber 3 enters the sensor mounting base through the fourth and fifth through holes, it undergoes a third filtration process.

[0025] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the sediment removal principle of this utility model. Figure 2 It can be seen that the internal pollutant residues (such as silt) under the action of gravity and swaying force (with the help of the lateral impact force of the water flow) first flow out of the sensor mounting base through the fifth through hole at the bottom, and then flow out through the third through hole and the first through hole in sequence.

[0026] This invention, through the aforementioned anti-biological coating and multi-layer permeable filtration structure design, can minimize the amount of pollutant residues and attached microorganisms that come into contact with the sensor, ensuring the accuracy of water quality indicators such as dissolved oxygen and pH, reducing maintenance frequency and cost, avoiding data distortion, providing continuous and reliable data for monitoring polluted rivers, and improving the efficiency of water quality management.

[0027] Although preferred embodiments of this application have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of this application.

[0028] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A waterproof bio-attached underwater sensor for use in polluted waterways, characterized in that, The waterproof bio-attached underwater sensor includes a light-proof chamber, a sensor chamber, multiple sensor mounting bases, a junction box, a measuring rod, a water quality sensor, and a hydrological sensor. The bottom of the light-shielding chamber is provided with a groove, and several first through holes are opened on the side wall of the groove; water flows into the light-shielding chamber through the first through holes; The sensor compartment is cylindrical and fixed above the light-shielding compartment. It extends to the side wall of the light-shielding compartment and has a second through hole, and a third through hole at the bottom, so that its internal space is connected to the light-shielding compartment. The light-shielding compartment is connected to the sensor compartment through the second and third through holes. Multiple sensor mounts are circumferentially distributed inside the sensor compartment. Each sensor mount has a fourth through hole and a fifth through hole on its lower side wall and bottom, respectively. Water quality sensors and water level sensors are distributed in multiple sensor mounts. The sensor compartment is connected to the sensor mounts through the fourth through hole and the fifth through hole. The sensor compartment has a top cover, the measuring rod stands vertically on the outside of the top cover, and the flow velocity sensor is located at the top of the measuring rod; the junction box is sealed and fixed inside the top cover, and the cables of the water quality sensor and the hydrological sensor are combined into one in the junction box to connect to the data collector placed in the floating body on the water surface.

2. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light-shielding chamber includes an intermediate chamber and two water flow buffer zones; The intermediate chamber is rectangular in shape, with the bottom of the sensor compartment inserted into the intermediate chamber and a gap between its bottom and the bottom of the groove; two water flow buffer zones are located at both ends of the intermediate chamber and are cone-shaped.

3. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 2, characterized in that, The gap ranges from 3 to 5 cm.

4. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, The diameter of the third through hole is larger than the diameter of the second through hole.

5. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, The diameter of the fifth through hole is larger than the diameter of the fourth through hole.

6. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 5, characterized in that, The fourth through holes on the sensor mounting base are arranged in an array, and the height of the fourth through hole array does not exceed half the height of the sensor mounting base.

7. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom groove and the inside of the light-proof chamber are coated with an anti-biological coating.

8. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, A connecting plate is welded to the outer side wall of the sensor compartment; The light-shielding chamber has a slot at the top that matches the size of the sensor compartment. The bottom of the sensor compartment passes through the slot into the light-shielding chamber and is fixed to the light-shielding chamber by a connecting plate, so that there is a gap between the bottom of the sensor compartment and the bottom of the light-shielding chamber.

9. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, The water quality sensors include dissolved oxygen sensors, conductivity sensors, turbidity sensors, pH sensors, and chlorophyll sensors, while the hydrological sensors include water level sensors and flow velocity sensors.

10. The waterproof biofouling underwater sensor for polluted waterways according to claim 1, characterized in that, The waterproof bio-attachment underwater sensor is mounted underwater via a steel wire rope fixed to a measuring rod.

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