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According to Water Framework Directives in EU and National Environmental regulations, all freshwater ecosystems must achieve good ecological status by 2015.
This goal is much problematic in developing countries where cities are rapidly growing and authorities have to deal with new water management problems. Therefore, development of real-time in-situ monitoring technique is needed to cope with abrupt deterioration in the quality of natural waters and to manage sustainable aquatic ecosystems in a timely and proper manner.
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is ubiquitous in all types of aquatic systems and, due to the influence that it has on their ecological health, can be used as a useful water quality indicator.
Fluorescence spectroscopy has been intensely used in recent decades for the analysis of DOM in water. Despite these implications, few continuous real-time fluorescence experiments have been performed on fresh and wastewater, mostly due to the lack of proper instrumentation.
The specific purpose of this project is to facilitate a better understanding of ecosystem processes based on the fundamental investigation of DOM character and concentration.
In the context of current economical conditions this project will provide a solution for rapid and cost-effective water quality monitoring through an early warning system, which, based on fluorescence spectroscopy, will deliver information about the quantity of DOM and pollutants and serve as surrogate for standard measurements.
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