Real-Time Detection of Residual Free Chlorine and pH in Water Using a Microchannel Device

A microfluidic device for real-time monitoring of residual free chlorine and pH in water based on optical absorption is proposed. The device consists of a serpentine micromixer for mixing samples with a reagent, and a photodiode and light emitting diode(LED) for the detection of light absorbance at specific wavelengths, determined for specific reagent combinations. Spectral analyses of the samples mixed with N, N'-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine(DPD) reagent for chlorine determination and bromothymol blue(BTB) for pH measurement are performed, and the wavelengths providing the most useful linear changes in absorbance with chlorine concentration and pH are determined and used to select the combination of LED and photodiode wavelengths for each analyte. In tests using standard solutions, the device is shown to give highly reproducible results, demonstrating the feasibility of the device for the inexpensive and continuous monitoring of water quality parameters with very low reagent consumption.