Colorimetric fiber optic probe for measurement of chemical parameters in surface water

In this paper a novel fiber optic chemical sensor is proposed with possibility of measuring several chemical parameters using simple structured and low-cost colorimetric probe with high precision. Proposed sensor is based on user oriented and intuitive HSV color model. Concentrations of the orthophosphate, nitrite, sulfate, hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) and total chlorine obtained with laboratory analysis were compared with concentrations obtained with proposed sensor in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the sensor. Relative differences in determined concentrations ranged from 2.31% for sulfate to 6.20% for total chlorine. Implemented sensor with its advantages such as low cost, simple use, reliability and small size, could be used for monitoring of water quality. Sensor is applicable for laboratory work, under controlled conditions, and could be used as a replacement for standard laboratory equipment as an effective, precise, repeatable and low-cost solution.