A strong partnership between University of Saskatchewan (USask) researcher Dr. Helen Baulch (PhD) and the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant is bringing cutting-edge monitoring equipment to Saskatchewan to advance lake science and safeguard drinking water for 260,000 people.
The independent board of directors of the plant, owned by the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw, in collaboration with plant president and CEO Ryan Johnson, has approved the purchase of a custom-designed $250,000 high-tech buoy that’s been nicknamed Superbuoy. It comes equipped with research-grade weather and atmospheric monitors, and an array of winter-hardy water quality sensors for year-round use.
“From a research perspective, the Superbuoy provides continuity as well as some neat new tools,” said Baulch, associate professor in USask’s School of Environment and Sustainability, and Centennial Enhancement Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Biogeochemistry.
“For example, it has cutting-edge sensors to more accurately measure carbon dioxide that’s important to lake ecology, and some new cameras with telemetry so that we are able to monitor the lake surface for scum, from our desks in Saskatoon and get down there to sample it.”
The new buoy is expected to arrive in time for the 2022 summer season, a period when huge algal blooms can occur on Buffalo Pound Lake, and when rapid changes to conditions, such as large temperature variations between upper and lower lake levels, sometimes cause major problems for the...
Read Full Story: https://news.usask.ca/articles/research/2021/usask-researchers-cutting-edge-buoy-aims-to-secure-water-source-for-regina-and-moose-jaw.php
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