a way equivalent to traditional analytical methods, and for overall water quality
assessments, i.e., for change-detection and early warning purposes.
In addition to the online measurement of chemical parameters, the monitoring of
possible organic threats to the quality of water is also of utmost importance, and
technologies for the direct sensing of such contaminants based on biosensing
techniques are currently under development. Della Ventura et al. [11] describe a
very attractive sensing technique for the in situ monitoring of organic contaminants
based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) devices. The chapter introduces the
basic theory of QCMs, the detection scheme and its practical embodiment (the
electronic interface and signal analysis) for an appropriate extraction of the needed
information. The peculiarity of the proposed approach consists in the
functionalisation of the QCM gold surface, obtained by immobilising a ‘recognition
layer’ of antibodies on the surface of the crystal, which is the key aspect for the
sensitivity and specificity of QCM-based immunosensors. The chapter, after introducing the theory and modelling of the QCM working mechanism, analyses the
response of a quartz crystal resonator in contact with a liquid sample. Finally, the
surface functionalisation and the detection scheme are discussed, with regard to
particular bacteriological contaminants like Escherichia coli and pesticides like
parathion. This promising sensing approach offers very high selectivity, real-time
measurement capability, and high sensitivity, thanks to the fact that a QCM is
capable of measuring mass changes as small as a fraction of a monolayer of atoms,
as the authors report.
This book is intended for a wide audience of readers, such as postgraduates,
researchers, and stakeholders at various levels. It is also intended for those experts
who want to widen their purview to adjacent fields of expertise and do not
necessarily have an ICT or hydroinformatics background.
Without aiming to be exhaustive, the present volume seeks to be a selective
survey of novel measurement technologies and data analysis approaches for water
systems.
Chapters of this book have been peer-reviewed by two reviewers per chapter. In
some cases, more than one review round was needed. Reviewers have been selected
partly internal and partly external to the book project. The editors are very indebted
to the reviewers for their excellent and thorough contribution to the overall quality
of the book.
Here we acknowledge the reviewers external to the book project:
• Romeo Bernini (CNR-IREA, Italy)
• Alessandro Nottola (Technoprobe S.p.A., Italy)
• Dleen Al-Shrafany (Salahaddin University, Iraq)
• Andreja Jonoski (IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands)
• Antonio Annis (University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy)
• Henrik Madsen (Danish Hydraulic Institute, Denmark)
• Qiang Dai (Nanjing Normal University, China)
• Peter van Thienen (KWR Water Research Institute, Netherlands)
• Ina Vertommen (KWR Water Research Institute, Netherlands)
Preface
xv
assessments, i.e., for change-detection and early warning purposes.
In addition to the online measurement of chemical parameters, the monitoring of
possible organic threats to the quality of water is also of utmost importance, and
technologies for the direct sensing of such contaminants based on biosensing
techniques are currently under development. Della Ventura et al. [11] describe a
very attractive sensing technique for the in situ monitoring of organic contaminants
based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) devices. The chapter introduces the
basic theory of QCMs, the detection scheme and its practical embodiment (the
electronic interface and signal analysis) for an appropriate extraction of the needed
information. The peculiarity of the proposed approach consists in the
functionalisation of the QCM gold surface, obtained by immobilising a ‘recognition
layer’ of antibodies on the surface of the crystal, which is the key aspect for the
sensitivity and specificity of QCM-based immunosensors. The chapter, after introducing the theory and modelling of the QCM working mechanism, analyses the
response of a quartz crystal resonator in contact with a liquid sample. Finally, the
surface functionalisation and the detection scheme are discussed, with regard to
particular bacteriological contaminants like Escherichia coli and pesticides like
parathion. This promising sensing approach offers very high selectivity, real-time
measurement capability, and high sensitivity, thanks to the fact that a QCM is
capable of measuring mass changes as small as a fraction of a monolayer of atoms,
as the authors report.
This book is intended for a wide audience of readers, such as postgraduates,
researchers, and stakeholders at various levels. It is also intended for those experts
who want to widen their purview to adjacent fields of expertise and do not
necessarily have an ICT or hydroinformatics background.
Without aiming to be exhaustive, the present volume seeks to be a selective
survey of novel measurement technologies and data analysis approaches for water
systems.
Chapters of this book have been peer-reviewed by two reviewers per chapter. In
some cases, more than one review round was needed. Reviewers have been selected
partly internal and partly external to the book project. The editors are very indebted
to the reviewers for their excellent and thorough contribution to the overall quality
of the book.
Here we acknowledge the reviewers external to the book project:
• Romeo Bernini (CNR-IREA, Italy)
• Alessandro Nottola (Technoprobe S.p.A., Italy)
• Dleen Al-Shrafany (Salahaddin University, Iraq)
• Andreja Jonoski (IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands)
• Antonio Annis (University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy)
• Henrik Madsen (Danish Hydraulic Institute, Denmark)
• Qiang Dai (Nanjing Normal University, China)
• Peter van Thienen (KWR Water Research Institute, Netherlands)
• Ina Vertommen (KWR Water Research Institute, Netherlands)
Preface
xv