An application of independent component analysis method for estimating the quality level of water using optical tomography

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation on the design of an optical tomography system for monitoring the water quality in the pipeline. The Independent Component Analysis (ICA) method has been utilised in this system in order to get the turbidity material (M) which represents the quality and the darkness of water. Comparison has been made between 3 litres of pure water samples and contaminated water samples in terms of average values (K) that related to turbidity material (M) on the 18 × 18 pixel tomogram. The sample of contaminated water is provided by adding 35 millilitres (ml) of food colouring into the pure water. Eighteen transmitters and eighteen receivers have been installed around the pipe whose outputs were then inputted into signal conditioning circuit and data acquisition system for data analysing process. The result has revealed that the system has the potential to contribute in the field of water quality monitoring or water treatment process.