A custom-built smart buoy is now stationed in Lake Macquarie’s Wyee Bay to assess water quality, in response to significant fish kills in August and September.
The buoy, which looks like a traditional navigation marker, uses pumps to automatically sample water from different depths, passing through an array of water quality sensors and then transmitting the data to the cloud for real-time analysis.
NSW Environment Protection Authority CEO, Tony Chappel said the buoy, positioned at Wyee Point, would contribute to the long-term understanding of water quality in the lake.
“The health of the lake is an important issue for us and the recent fish kills have understandably raised a lot of concern in the community,” he said.
“As the largest saltwater lake in the southern hemisphere, we want to ensure we have the best technology in place to monitor any changes.
“Over the next six months the buoy will provide our teams with vital baseline data which will assess salinity, turbidity, oxygen, temperature and pH levels.
“The biggest benefit of these buoys is the real-time data they provide which will help our teams to spot an issue before it’s too late and hopefully protect against any further impacts on the lake’s marine life.
“We know the lake is the heart of the local community and we will continue to do what we can to keep people informed and ensure the best protections are in place,” Chappel said.
Smart buoys are part of a network of water quality initiatives set up across the state by the Science, Economics and Insights Division (SEI) of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.
“This technology has been designed and purpose-built by SEI and we typically use these buoys for monitoring water quality in estuaries or for short-term deployments following a flood or bushfire event as we monitor the impact of natural disasters on waterways,” said SEI Executive Director, Georgina Kelly.
Real-time data feed from the Wyee Point buoy can be viewed on EPA’s website
Sue Murray