LOTUS · Project

10x Cheaper Water Quality Sensors With Cloud Monitoring Platform for Utilities

environmentPilotedTRL 6

Imagine you could test your city's water quality the way you check the weather on your phone — instantly, from anywhere. Right now, water testing is expensive and slow, often done by sending samples to a lab. LOTUS built tiny sensors using carbon nanotubes that can detect multiple contaminants in real time, at roughly one-tenth the cost of current sensors. They also built a cloud platform with dashboards and mobile apps so water managers can see problems the moment they happen, not days later.

By the numbers

10x

Targeted cost reduction factor for water quality sensors

Consortium partners involved

Countries in the consortium

Industry partners in the consortium

SMEs in the consortium

Total project deliverables produced

The business problem

What needed solving

Water utilities, farms, and treatment plants worldwide rely on expensive lab tests or single-parameter sensors that give results hours or days after contamination occurs. By the time you know the water is bad, people have already consumed it or crops have already been damaged. There is no affordable way to monitor multiple contaminants simultaneously and in real time, especially in regions with limited infrastructure.

The solution

What was built

LOTUS built a low-cost multi-contaminant chemical sensor using carbon nanotubes, targeting a 10x cost reduction over existing sensors. They also built a cloud-based integrated platform with real-time dashboards, mobile interfaces, 3D visualization, anomaly detection, and alert systems — demonstrated across urban water networks, irrigation systems, groundwater monitoring, and wastewater treatment.

Audience

Who needs this

Municipal water utilities managing distribution networksAgricultural irrigation system operators and large farmsWastewater treatment plant operatorsWater quality regulators and environmental monitoring agenciesSmart city infrastructure companies integrating IoT water solutions

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Water Utilities & Distribution

any

Target: Municipal water utility or private water distribution company

If you are a water utility dealing with expensive, slow lab-based water testing — LOTUS developed real-time chemical sensors using carbon nanotubes that monitor multiple contaminants simultaneously, at a cost reduction factor of at least 10 compared to current sensors. The cloud-based platform sends alerts the moment quality drops, so you can act in minutes instead of days. With 30 partners across 7 countries validating this across urban and rural use cases, the technology covers drinking water, groundwater, and distribution networks.

Agricultural Irrigation

mid-size

Target: Large-scale farm operator or irrigation system provider

If you are an irrigation company or large farm dealing with unpredictable water quality damaging crops or equipment — LOTUS built real-time optimal operation tools for irrigation systems based on quality and quantity monitoring. The sensors detect contaminants in river and groundwater sources before that water reaches your fields. The platform was demonstrated across the whole value chain including rural areas and irrigation systems, with mobile dashboards for field monitoring.

Wastewater Treatment

enterprise

Target: Industrial wastewater treatment plant operator

If you are a wastewater treatment operator struggling with inconsistent effluent quality and regulatory compliance — LOTUS developed monitoring and control tools specifically for algae-based wastewater treatment, plus real-time alert systems for quality anomalies. The integrated platform includes signal processing for error detection and 3D visualization of treatment performance. The system was deployed and evaluated across multiple use cases with performance reports covering the full water value chain.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

How much cheaper are these sensors compared to what's on the market?

The project objective explicitly targets reducing sensor costs by a factor of at least 10. The sensors use carbon nanotube technology to monitor multiple contaminants concurrently in real time, which eliminates the need for separate single-parameter sensors and expensive lab analysis.

Can this scale to monitor an entire city's water network?

The platform was designed and demonstrated for urban water distribution systems, including pressure/flow monitoring and anomaly detection at scale. It includes cloud-based implementation with interoperability features, communication protocols, and mobile dashboards — all infrastructure needed for city-wide deployment. The consortium of 30 partners across 7 countries tested it across diverse use cases.

What about intellectual property and licensing?

The project includes 13 industry partners and 8 SMEs, with the coordinator (GAC, France) being an SME itself. The objective explicitly mentions planning business models and market uptake, including industrial production of the sensor in India. Based on available project data, specific licensing terms would need to be discussed with the consortium.

Does this work with existing water infrastructure?

Yes — the project objective specifically states they account for existing infrastructure in deployment. The platform includes interoperability features based on water-related ontology, APIs for data conversion and integration, and relevant communication protocols. It was demonstrated across intermittent supply systems and tanker-based distribution — some of the most challenging infrastructure scenarios.

What's the current status — is this ready to buy?

The project ran from 2019 to 2024 and is now closed. They produced 40 deliverables including a final version of the integrated platform demonstration, a second-generation prototype, and deployment evaluation reports from real use cases. The technology has been piloted but would likely need a commercial partner for mass production.

Does this meet water quality regulations?

The sensors monitor multiple contaminants concurrently in real time, which supports regulatory compliance monitoring. The platform includes anomaly detection and real-time alert systems for both water quality and quantity. Based on available project data, specific regulatory certifications would depend on the deployment country's requirements.

What kind of technical support is available?

The consortium includes 9 universities, 3 research organizations, and 13 industry partners across Europe and India. The project produced extensive documentation including tool prototypes, platform demonstrations, and deployment reports. Post-project support would need to be arranged through the consortium partners.

Consortium

Who built it

This is a large, industry-heavy consortium with 30 partners across 7 countries — well above average for EU research projects. With 13 industry partners (43% of the consortium) and 8 SMEs, this was clearly built for market impact, not just academic papers. The coordinator GAC is a French SME, which means the project was led by a company with commercial incentives. The mix of 9 universities and 3 research organizations provides deep technical expertise, while the strong Indian partnership (the "IN" in the country list) ensures the technology was designed for real deployment conditions, not just European lab environments. This consortium structure makes the technology credible for business adoption.

GACCoordinator · FR
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUEparticipant · FR
ABB ABparticipant · SE
HITACHI ENERGY SWEDEN ABparticipant · SE
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETERparticipant · UK
COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCHparticipant · IN
INNO TSDparticipant · FR
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DORTMUNDparticipant · DE
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BOMBAYparticipant · IN
AUTARCON GMBHparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITE GUSTAVE EIFFELthirdparty · FR
PANEPISTIMIO THESSALIASparticipant · EL
CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRSthirdparty · FR
EGMparticipant · FR

How to reach the team

GAC (France) — French SME that coordinated the project. Contact via SciTransfer for introduction.

Order a report on this consortium See GAC profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how LOTUS sensors and platform could fit your water monitoring needs? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the consortium team and help you evaluate the technology for your specific use case.

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