Smart Ports, clean waters project and data sharing

Innovation in Water Quality Monitoring

This month marks the end of an exciting water quality monitoring project: Smart Ports, Clean Waters, a 12-month pilot co-funded by Innovate UK and delivered by HydroSurv and Chelsea Technologies, alongside harbour authorities in Dartmouth, Cattewater (Plymouth), and Falmouth.

At the heart of the project are uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) — small, battery-powered boats that can be remotely operated to collect high-resolution water quality data across estuaries and harbours. Each vessel is equipped with advanced Chelsea Technologies sensors measuring:

• Chlorophyll-a (indicator of phytoplankton and eutrophication risk)

• Turbidity (water clarity and sediment loading)

• Tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF) (marker of bacterial activity and sewage contamination)

• Fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) (linked to organic pollution, helping distinguish sewage from natural sources)

• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (hydrocarbon contamination from oil and fuel)

• Phycoerythrin (pigment marker for certain algal groups)
  
  

Unlike traditional spot-sampling and lab testing, which can take days or weeks for results, these sensors generate real-time data — allowing pollution hotspots and trends to be detected far more quickly. Weekly surveys will run for a full year, creating an unprecedented dataset on water quality dynamics in our region.

Friends of the Dart have been given access to this dataset for the Dart estuary. This is a hugely valuable resource that will allow us to integrate new data layers into our maps of pollution across the catchment, and compare real-time sensor data with bacterial monitoring results.

We are very grateful to HydroSurv, Chelsea Technologies, and the project consortium for making this data available to us. By combining cutting-edge technology with our community-led monitoring, we can build a much clearer picture of the challenges facing the Dart.