Evaluation of water quality and pollution using multichannel sensors

We studied and discussed the characteristics and the application of a multi channel electrode type sensor. It was based on eight membranes using variou s lipids as an effective and a simple potentiometric sensor for detecting w ater quality. The response of the sensor was calibrated using a standard solution, adjust ed as an artificial river water. Especially, we researched the response pat terns of the sensor to the river water at Kitakyushu in Japan. In general, cations increase the membrane potential of negatively charged membranes, wh ile anions decrease that of positively charged membranes. The water quality of the upper stream was clearly distinguished from the water quality of th e other sites. The original data obtained with the sensor were expressed on an eight-dimensional space, so they were visualized on the two-dimensional plane using principal component analysis. That is, the water quality of th e upper stream was the same, and the quality of middle and down stream was different. The multichannel sensor system will contribute to control water quality and water pollution. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights rese rved.