Sensors Journal, IEEE, Volume: PP Issue:99, 20 October 2011
A Camera Phone-Based UV-Dosimeter for Monitoring the Solar Disinfection (SODIS) of Water
Copperwhite, R.; McDonagh, C.; O’Driscoll, S.
R. Copperwhite is with the Optical Sensors Laboratory (OSL), National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR), Dublin City University (DCU), Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland.(email:Robert.Copperwhite@dcu.ie)
In this Letter, we report on the development of a novel camera phone-based UV-dosimeter for monitoring the solar disinfection (SODIS) of water. The dosimeter consists of a UV indicator, methylene blue, dispersed in an ethylcellulosebased polymer matrix. To provide quantitative measurement of UV dose, we demonstrate the use of a camera phone to analyze dosimeter color change in response to UV exposure. The dosimeter response exhibits excellent agreement with a polynomial model (R2 > 0.99) over the UV exposure range tested. A notable advantage of the dosimeter described here is that it can be deposited on a variety of substrates with the potential to be incorporated into water containers. It is envisaged that use of such a dosimeter in conjunction with mobile phone technology will enhance the use of SODIS thereby impacting significantly on the challenge of providing clean drinking water in developing regions of the world.
