NAGAPATTINAM: Two researchers from Tamil Nadu Fisheries University have developed a portable device to check water quality in aquaculture ponds. Dr D Kesavan and Dr M Ramar from the College Of Fisheries Engineering (CoFE) affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr J Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU) have developed the device, which they call 'Pocket-size Device for Water Quality Assessment in Aquaculture' or 'miniaturised colourimeter.' They have applied for patents for the device.
"Water quality management is essential for profitable and sustainable aquaculture. Tools that can accurately determine pH are essential as even decimal differences are significant. We have developed a technology that can read pH accurately and on the spot. It will be a simple, economical, portable, user-friendly device," said Dr D Kesavan, Head of the Department of Basic Sciences in CoFE.
According to researchers, aquafarmers mostly use reagent-based colour testing kits for evaluation of water quality parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrite. They add a reagent having halochromic material to the water sample to develop a colour, which they compare to a standard scale. In the technology developed by CoFE researchers, a sample is taken in a tube and a special reagent formulated by them is added.
Then, the tube with the mixture is placed in the miniaturized colourimeter. It shows values correlated with a standard table to get the pH value (from 6.0 to 9.0) of the pond water. "In the method of manual observation of colour, there are no or fewer colour differences for one value to another. The colours developed for different pH can be in the same region and manual observation can lead to error. In our technology, we use the miniaturized colourimeter to give accurate readings of pH," said Ramar.
The researchers said it is the device along with special reagent and the test tube would only about Rs 1,000 compared to the typical colour code-based manual testing kit which costs over Rs 13,000. The researchers said they are implementing the technology in villages of Muttam, Panangudi, Manjakollai, Vadagudi and Akkaraipettai of Nagapattinam district to monitor the pond water quality.
The invention has received funding from Tamil Nadu's State Council for Science and Technology and the Union government's Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Scheme. It has secured second place in the recent competition conducted by TNAU's Regional Coordinating Institute (RCI) and is now been recommended for National Selection conducted by IIT-Delhi. Dr N Manimehalai, Dean in-charge of CoFE, said, "We are encouraging research not just among teaching staff, but also students, especially at the undergraduate level. More patents are applied from our institute."