Using sonar technology to test water quality

Using sonar technology to test water quality Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Missouri describes how researchers are using sonar technology to test the quality of water.

The method provides users with a fast and inexpensive way to determine whether drinking water is safe for consumption. 

According to the scientists, they can identify changes in the physical properties of liquids based on the test results. 

“If the water isn’t drinkable, then our method will tell you that something is wrong with the water,” said study co-author Professor Luis Polo-Parada.

“For instance, if a facility removes salt from sea water in order for water to be safe for drinking, our method can help alert the facility to potential changes such as an issue with the desalination process.” The sound waves then return to the receiver on the sonar computer. After the computer receives the waves, it changes them back into electrical signals, which then produce a picture. Active SONAR is able to enetrate water and create images of what would otherwise be considered invisible because of its extreme depths. The simplest sonar devices send out a sound pulse from a transducer, and then precisely measure the time it takes for the sound pulses to be reflected back to the transducer. The distance to an object can be calculated using this time difference and the speed of sound in the water

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: University of Missouri