Autonomous nitrate-level detection for water quality monitoring: instrument design and validation

Through a series of 3 experiments, this paper presents the testing and evaluation of the accuracy of a low-cost Autonomous Nitrate Level Quantifier (ANLQ). In order to compete and prove the novelties in the growing field of microfluidics and autonomous sensor grid, a complete redesign of the system had to be done. The new system is presented first and is then followed by the results of 3 tests performed to verify the precision of the equipment. The 3 tests are: dosing accuracy, colorimeter accuracy, and overall system accuracy validation. It is shown that the precision of tests #2 and #3 involving the chosen colorimeter is quite low. On the other hand, test #1 has a standard deviation of 49.225$\mu L$, with the optimal configuration of parameters, meaning it can be used for future designs.