Low-Cost Software and Hardware Infrastructure for Water Quality Sensing in Indigenous Communities

Abstract

Regular water-quality testing in remote locations can be expensive and complicated due to limited connectivity. This thesis tackles the issue by building a system that uses readily available sensors (pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and temperature) along with an ESP32 microcontroller and LoRa modules to collect and send data over long distances. A custom mesh network protocol adapts to changing signal paths and interruptions. The backend—using Golang and InfluxDB—processes and stores time-series sensor data, while a React-based interface provides live visualizations. The modular and flexible design makes sure that the system can be tailored to different environmental conditions and adapted to incorporate new technologies.