Publications:

De, Shriyadita, and Rebecca D. Epling. “A Low-Cost, Arduino-Based System for Real-Time Abiotic Monitoring of a Local Watershed.” Journal of Emerging Investigators, 27 Aug. 2026, https://doi.org/10.59720/25-049

Abstract:

The Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, is affected by pollution from streams throughout its watershed, where about 18 million people live. Routine monitoring of local streams can help identify problems quickly and encourage communities to protect their watersheds. I studied Little Paint Branch in Montgomery County, whose water quality was rated “Good” in 2011, to determine its condition in 2021 and examine changes by time of day, season, weather, and weekday versus weekend. My engineering goal was to build a low-cost water-monitoring device using an open-source Arduino board. The device measures turbidity, temperature, and pH. Each sensor was programmed, tested, calibrated, and combined. I also added a rechargeable battery and began integrating a GSM module to send data through cellular networks to an IoT platform such as ThingSpeak for real-time analysis and community access. Using the device, I collected triplicate readings four times per day on weekdays and weekends during winter and summer. Data were analyzed in Excel using t-tests and one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s tests. Temperature generally followed outdoor air temperature. Turbidity and pH varied significantly at certain times between weekdays and weekends, with seasonal differences also observed. Overall, average temperature, turbidity, and pH showed that Little Paint Branch still had “Good” water quality. Future continuous monitoring could detect changes after rain, storms, or snow, provide alerts, and help communities respond rapidly. Expanding this approach across local watersheds could improve Chesapeake Bay health while reducing restoration costs. It could also reveal longer-term environmental trends locally.