Abstract
Taste and odour causingchemicals in drinking water supplies can bedetected and identified using a variety ofanalytical techniques and sensory methods.Currently limitations exist in applying thesetechniques and methods to the continuousmonitoring of taste and odour episodes.Electronic sensory systems so called``electronic noses'' using non-specific gassensors could offer a rapid and relative simpletechnique for continuous monitoring of waterquality. Laboratory and field-based continuouswater monitoring showed that introducedpollutants such as 2-chlorophenol and geosmincould be detected by a sensor array, howeverthe detection limits were significant higherthan the odour threshold concentrations (OTC)for the respective compounds. The conditioningof the monitoring system in a temperaturecontrolled environment for on-line headspacegeneration and transfer reduced the impact ofenvironmental fluctuations on the sensorresponse profiles. At present, a sensor arraybased monitoring system could be applied to theintake protection of taste and odour causingcompounds in water supplies with a minimum OTCof 10 ppm.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bourgeois W & Stuetz RM (2000) Measuring wastewater quality using a sensor array-prospects for real-time monitoring. Water Sci. Technol. 41(12): 107–112
Bourgeois W & Stuetz RM (2002) Use of a chemical sensor array for detecting industrial pollutants in wastewater. Water Res. 36: 4505–4512
Bourgeois W, Hogben P, Pike A & Stuetz RM (2003) Development of sensor array based measurement system for continuous monitoring of water and wastewater. Sensors and Actuators B 88: 312–319
Drage BE, Upton JE & Purvis M (1998) On-line monitoring of micropollutants in the river trent (UK) with respect to drinking water abstraction. Water Sci Technol 38(11): 123–130
Dewettinck T, Van Hege K & Verstraete W (2001) The electronic nose as a rapid sensor for volatile compounds in treated domestic wastewater. Water Res. 35(10): 2475–2483
Gardner JW & Barlett PN (1999) Electronic Noses-Principles and Applications. Oxford University Press, 223 pp.
Gardner JW, Craven M, Dow C & Hines EL (1998) The prediction of bacteria type and culture growth phase by an electronic nose with a multi-layer perceptron network. Meas. Sci. Technol. 9: 120–127
Gibson TD, Prosser O, Hulbert JN, Marshall RW, Corcoran P, Lowery P, Ruck-Keene EA & Heron S (1997) Detection and simultaneous identification of microorganisms from headspace samples using electronic noses. Sensors Actuators B 44: 413–422
Hobbs PJ, Misselbrook TH & Pain BF (1995) Assessment of odours from livestock wastes by a photoionization detector, an electronic noses, olfactometry and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry. J. Agric. Engng. Res. 60: 137–144
Holmberg M, Gustafsson F, Hornsten EG, Winquist F, Nilsson LE, Ljung L & Lundstrom I (1998) Bacteria classification based on feature extraction from sensor data. Biotechnol. Technq. 12: 319–324
Hogben P, Stuetz RM & Drage B (2001) Use of chemical sensor array and an on-line flow-cell for monitoring water quality. Proc.AWWA Water Quality Technology Conference. Nashville, 9 pp-CD
Khiari D, Brenner L, Burlingame GA & Suffet IH (1992) Sensory gas chromatography for evaluation of taste and odor events in drinking water. Wat. Sci. Technol. 25(2): 97–104
Kress-Rogers E (1996) Handbook of Biosensors and Electronic Noses. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Maricou H, Pereira D, Verschuere S, Philips S & Verstraete W (1998) Measurements of some volatile compounds by means of the electronic nose. Water Air Soil Pollut. 107: 423–442
Misselbrook TH, Hobbs PJ & Persaud KC (1997) Use of an electronic nose to measure odour concentrations following application of cattle slurry to glassland. J. Agric. Engng Res. 66: 213–220
Namdev PK, Alroy Y and Singh V (1998) Sniffing out trouble: use of an electronic nose in bioprocesses. Biotechnology Progress 14: 75–78
Persaud KC, Khaffaf SM, Sneath RW & Hobbs PJ (1996) Assessment of conducting polymer odour sensors for agricultural malodours measurements. Chem. Sci. 21: 495–505
Stuetz RM, White M & Fenner RA (1998) Use of an lectronic nose to detect tainting compounds in raw and treated water. J Water SRT-Aqua 47(5): 223–228
Stuetz RM, Fenner RA & Engin G (1999a) Characterisation of wastewater using an electronic nose. Water Res. 33(2): 442–452
Stuetz RM, Fenner RA & Engin G (1999b) Assessment of odours from sewage treatment works by an electronic nose, H2S analysis and olfactometry. Water Res. 33(2): 453–461
Stuetz RM (2003) Application of electronic nose technology for monitoring water and wastewater. In: Alegret S (Ed) Integrated Analytical Systems (pp 513–539). Elsevier Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry Series
Suffet IH, Khiari D & Bruchet A (1999) The drinking water taste and odor wheel for the millennium: beyond geosmin and methylisoborneol. Wat Sci. Technol. 40(6): 1–13
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hogben, P., Drage, B. & Stuetz, R. Electronic sensory systems for taste and odour monitoring in water – Developments and limitations. Re/Views in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology 3, 15–22 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:RESB.0000040013.76464.58
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:RESB.0000040013.76464.58