A reservoir project in Yibin, Sichuan

Water Quality Online Monitoring Project at a Reservoir in Yibin, Sichuan Province

As a key centralized drinking water source for the local area, a reservoir in Yibin, Sichuan Province, also serves multiple functions including irrigation, flood control, and ecological water replenishment. It is an important water infrastructure project that ensures drinking water safety for surrounding residents, maintains regional ecological balance, and supports local economic and social development. Yibin is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and this reservoir, as an integral part of the river basin’s ecological barrier, directly influences downstream water safety and environmental quality. In recent years, with the economic development and population concentration in the surrounding area, the reservoir has faced potential threats such as agricultural non‑point source pollution, inflow of domestic sewage, and sudden pollution risks. Traditional manual sampling monitoring suffers from long cycles, delayed data, limited coverage, and untimely emergency response, failing to meet the high standards required for routine supervision, risk prevention, and water quality safety assurance of the water source. To build a robust safety defense line for the water source, strictly implement regulations for the protection of drinking water sources, and precisely control water quality risks, the reservoir launched an online water quality monitoring project. The project centrally deploys professional online water quality analyzers to establish a comprehensive, intelligent, and round‑the‑clock online water quality monitoring system, providing solid technical support for water quality safety control and ecological protection of the reservoir.

Monitoring System and Deployment

This project takes into account the hydrological characteristics of the reservoir, the distribution of surrounding pollution sources, and the requirements for water source protection. Using online water quality analyzers as the core monitoring equipment, monitoring stations are scientifically deployed at key points including the reservoir inlet, the center of the reservoir, the outlet, major tributary confluences, and surrounding sensitive areas. This achieves dynamic coverage of water quality across the entire reservoir and precise monitoring of key areas. The online water quality analyzers focus on the core control requirements for drinking water sources, primarily monitoring key indicators such as water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, turbidity, COD, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen. The system is also adapted to the specific water quality characteristics of the reservoir and offers flexible expansion capabilities; additional monitoring functions for characteristic indicators such as heavy metals and algae can be added as needed. All monitoring strictly follows national standards for drinking water source monitoring, ensuring accurate, reliable, and regulation‑compliant data that fully reflects the overall water quality status of the reservoir.

Equipment Features and Capabilities

The online water quality analyzers used in the project offer core advantages of automation, high precision, high stability, and strong anti‑interference capability. They integrate full‑process functions including automatic sampling, automatic pretreatment, automatic detection, automatic cleaning, automatic calibration, and intelligent quality control. They can operate continuously 24/7, significantly reducing manual maintenance workload and avoiding human operational errors. Furthermore, the equipment supports 4G/NB‑IoT wireless data transmission technology, enabling real‑time upload of monitoring data to the reservoir management center platform as well as to the platforms of local environmental and water resources regulatory authorities. This facilitates real‑time data viewing, historical data retrieval, and automatic alerting for abnormal indicators. When monitoring data exceed the safety threshold, the system rapidly triggers multi‑level alert signals, allowing staff to promptly identify pollution sources and take emergency response measures to prevent water quality safety risks.

Project Outcomes and Significance

The implementation of this project has comprehensively improved the intelligence and precision of water quality control at the reservoir, effectively addressing the shortcomings of traditional monitoring methods and achieving closed‑loop management of "real‑time monitoring, precise early warning, and rapid response" for reservoir water quality. The continuous and stable operation of the online water quality analyzers not only provides accurate data support for reservoir management authorities to understand water quality dynamics, identify pollution risks, and optimize water source protection measures, but also builds a solid defense line for drinking water safety for surrounding residents, ensuring that the reservoir's outlet water quality consistently meets drinking water source standards. Moreover, the implementation of this project supports Yibin in fulfilling its ecological protection responsibilities in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, improves the regional water source monitoring system, and promotes the coordinated development of ecological protection and public welfare. This project has significant environmental and social benefits for maintaining the ecological balance of the river basin and ensuring the security of water resources.