The netH₂O Family

One family, three buoy platforms and five application packs—combined around the water-quality question you need to answer.

Choosing a monitoring system should begin with the deployment and the operational decision, not with the longest possible sensor list. The netH₂O family separates the buoy platform from the measurement packs: choose the buoy for the site, energy budget and required autonomy; then choose the sensors for the risks you need to observe.

Across the family, the platforms combine cellular communications, GPS, configurable acquisition and transmission, temperature sensing, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and RS-485/Modbus integration for water-quality sensors. Data are delivered to the cloud for remote access and analysis. The precise autonomy and installed sensor capacity depend on the model, configuration and sampling schedule.

Choose the buoy platform

netH₂O B100-5

The compact solar model. Its approximately 100 Wh LiFePO₄ battery and 5 W photovoltaic panel suit lakes, reservoirs, aquaculture ponds, mussel farms, ports, marinas and nearshore monitoring where a small platform is an advantage. It can also be configured as a lightweight coastal drifter, with its position reported by GPS.

The B100-5 is designed for indefinite field operation when available sunlight, sampling frequency and upload schedule keep the energy budget in balance. Application packs are added according to the monitoring objective.

netH₂O B400-10

The higher-capacity solar model. Four LiFePO₄ batteries provide approximately 400 Wh in total, supported by a 10 W photovoltaic panel. The additional energy headroom makes it a natural choice for more demanding coastal and open-water installations, or wherever the measurement and communication schedule would be too demanding for the smaller platform.

As with the B100-5, long-term energy autonomy depends on solar exposure, duty cycle and transmission frequency.

netH₂O B770

The high-capacity modular base platform for long untended deployments and multi-parameter arrays. It carries a 60 Ah / 768 Wh LiFePO₄ battery and can accommodate up to four sensors on a shared RS-485/Modbus chain. Depending on sampling and transmission frequency, autonomy can reach up to 12 months.

The B770 can be moored to the seabed or fixed to an existing structure, including a fish-cage ring. GPS/geofencing and remotely configurable acquisition make it suitable for professional aquaculture, coastal and environmental-monitoring installations.

Choose what to measure

Each application pack adds one integrated water-quality sensor to a compatible netH₂O buoy. The right combination depends on the question. A sensor signal is evidence about the water body; it is not, by itself, a diagnosis.

DO — Dissolved oxygen

Dissolved oxygen is the most direct operational variable for oxygen stress in fish and other aquatic organisms. Together with temperature and time of day, it supports low-oxygen alarms, aeration decisions and the detection of acute drops.

DO does not identify the cause of a decline. Respiration, decomposition, stratification, mixing, salinity changes and bloom dynamics can all contribute. It is the essential baseline, not the whole explanation.

CHL — Chlorophyll-a

Chlorophyll-a fluorescence is a broad proxy for photosynthetic phytoplankton biomass. It is useful when the concern is algae in general, or when the dominant phytoplankton community is not yet known. Because chlorophyll-a occurs in algae and cyanobacteria, the signal can respond to both.

It is not a species count, a toxin measurement or a universal conversion into biomass. Pigment composition, physiology, light history and the optical properties of the water all affect fluorescence, so site-specific validation remains important.

CYANO — Cyanobacteria

The CYANO pack measures a phycocyanin-oriented fluorescence signal. In freshwater lakes where phycocyanin-bearing cyanobacteria are the relevant risk, it can provide a more targeted indication than chlorophyll-a alone and can sharpen the interpretation of changes in DO.

The signal is targeted, not exclusive: it is not a measure of all algae, and it does not identify species, cell numbers or toxins. It is also not a universal marine harmful-algal-bloom sensor; the locally dominant organisms and pigments must be considered before using it in brackish or marine water.

Turb — Turbidity

Turbidity tracks suspended particles and provides context for runoff, sediment resuspension, feeding activity and changes in water clarity. It is especially useful beside CHL or CYANO because particles and light attenuation can distort or mask fluorescence trends.

Turbidity does not automatically compensate a pigment measurement. It shows when optical interference may be plausible; quantitative correction requires local observations, calibration and, where appropriate, a multi-sensor model.

CS — Conductivity and salinity

The CS sensor measures conductivity directly. With the appropriate temperature-compensated conversion, conductivity provides salinity context and helps identify mixing, freshwater pulses and changes between water masses. It is particularly valuable in brackish water, coastal aquaculture and mussel farming, and it improves the interpretation of dissolved oxygen because oxygen solubility changes with salinity.

CS does not measure biological activity directly, but it can explain changes that would otherwise be wrongly attributed to a bloom or to oxygen consumption alone.

Useful starting configurations

These are starting points, not universal recipes:

• Fish welfare and aeration: DO, interpreted with the buoy's temperature data. This is the minimum operational baseline for recognising oxygen stress and acting in time.
• Mixed or unknown algal communities: DO + CHL. Add Turb where runoff, resuspension or variable water clarity may affect the fluorescence signal.
• Known freshwater cyanobacteria risk: DO + CYANO. Add CHL when it is useful to distinguish a targeted cyanobacteria trend from broader changes in phytoplankton.
• Broader freshwater bloom surveillance: DO + CHL + CYANO, with Turb added when optical interference or suspended solids are an important part of the site.
• Brackish water and mussel farming: begin with DO + CS; add CHL for broad phytoplankton dynamics and Turb for particles and optical context. Use CYANO where local ecology and validation support a phycocyanin-based measurement.
• Coastal fish farming and open-water installations: DO + CS is a strong baseline. CHL and Turb can add biological and particle context; pigment sensors should be selected against the organisms and water conditions actually present at the site.

From monitoring to early warning

Occasional sampling provides snapshots. High-frequency time series reveal daily cycles, rates of change and combinations of signals that precede an event. A site-specific model can use DO and temperature alone to forecast recurring minima or flag an acute departure from normal behaviour. CHL, CYANO, Turb and CS can add explanatory information and, where the local process supports it, make warnings earlier or more specific.

Prediction is strongest after a representative local history has been collected and checked against maintenance records, weather, field observations and laboratory samples. Instrumental monitoring does not replace microscopy, toxin analysis or regulatory sampling when those are required.

For the scientific background and a fuller guide to parameter selection, read The worst moment might be just before dawn.

Build the right configuration

Start with the deployment: location, mooring or drifting mode, service interval, sunlight and communications. Then define the operational decision—protect fish, manage aeration, follow bloom risk, understand a brackish site or build a research time series—and select only the measurements that help make that decision.

Explore the complete netH₂O collection for current specifications and application-pack options. Elements Works can also help assess the platform and sensor combination for a specific site.