Introducing proSONDE: A New Standard for Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring

Developed in the UK by Proteus Instruments using world-leading engineering expertise, proSONDE represents a significant advance in how water quality is monitored. Built on proven foundations, proSONDE represents a step-change in flexibility, durability and capability.

Developed to capture water quality events as they occur, proSONDE combines real-time E. coli measurement with a fully configurable multi-parameter platform, advanced anti-fouling, and flexible deployment options. Rather than relying on delayed, discrete snapshots, it provides an ongoing, current picture of water quality conditions as they change.

For water utilities and councils and industrial operators, this capability is particularly significant. Water quality monitoring is often closely tied to active worksites, infrastructure assets, environmental consents and public scrutiny. In these environments, the ability to see conditions change in real-time, rather than days later, directly influences compliance decisions, site management, operational risk and community confidence.

Adroit Business Lead, Philippe Boulanger says the launch is an important milestone for the business.

“proSONDE changes the economics of water quality monitoring,” says Boulanger.

“It allows organisations to move from periodic confirmation to continuous understanding, reducing uncertainty, improving decision-making, and ultimately lowering the operational and compliance risk associated with water quality events,” he says.

“We’ve worked closely with Proteus over several years, validating their technology in real-world conditions and supporting customers as expectations around environmental monitoring have continued to rise. proSONDE represents the next evolution of that technology, with expanded capability and flexibility,” Boulanger says

At its core, proSONDE delivers something the industry has been asking for: continuous, real-time insight into water quality events, including E. coli. “Real-time monitoring captures what grab samples on their own simply can’t. Recording what’s actually happening when it matters,” Boulanger says.

That distinction is critical. Traditional laboratory sampling remains essential, but it captures a single moment in time, often delivered days after the sample was taken. proSONDE shifts that balance by measuring conditions continuously, in situ, allowing changes to be seen as they occur.

“Events can be missed, and when they are, decisions can be delayed, or wrong,” says Guy Macpherson, General Manager at Adroit.

“E. coli risk monitoring is supported through continuous measurement of key water quality indicators, including turbidity, fluorescence, temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. Together, these parameters provide early visibility of conditions commonly associated with elevated E. coli risk, enabling faster response, targeted laboratory sampling, and more defensible compliance decisions.

“This allows action to be taken when required, or avoided when it’s not, helping prevent unnecessary disruption to business or the public,” MacPherson says.

While real-time E. coli monitoring is a headline capability, proSONDE is designed as far more than a single-purpose sensor. It is a fully configurable 11-port multiprobe supporting a wide range of parameters, including nutrients, organics, fluorescence, and derived metrics such as BOD, COD, TOC and DOC.

The platform includes flush-faced sensors, advanced anti-fouling options, hot-swappable digital sensors, batch calibration and improved housing to support reliable operation in demanding environments.

“The new proSONDE takes already strong technology and improves it,” says Macpherson. “Better housing, easier calibration and cleaning, improved durability, they’ve kept what works and removed the friction.”

Importantly, proSONDE does not replace laboratory analysis but repositions it where it adds the most value.

“Our goal isn’t to disrupt labs,” says Boulanger. “It’s to work with labs for what they’re best at: validation and calibration.”

For Adroit, the launch of proSONDE reinforces its role as an environmental technology partner, the bridge between sensing technology and regulatory confidence.

Rather than organisations attempting to build their own in-house capability, Adroit validates technology, establishes the right SOPs, and ensures monitoring delivers data that can be relied on when decisions matter.

“proSONDE reinforces why Adroit exists,” says Guy Macpherson. “Our role is to take complex environmental technology and make it operational, so organisations can focus on outcomes based on real data, not guesswork.”

Key Technical Details

Key facts summarising the proSONDE system’s core measurement capabilities, performance specifications, and environmental tolerances. They highlight a monitoring platform engineered for accuracy, durability, and consistent operation in real-world field conditions.

• The system measures water temperature across a range of –5°C to 50°C, with a resolution of 0.01°C and accuracy of ±0.01°C, and does not require calibration.
• pH monitoring covers a full range of 0 to 13 units, with 0.01 resolution and accuracy of ±0.1 pH units within 10°C of calibration. The sensor uses a refillable reference electrode, is temperature-corrected, and typically delivers a service life of more than four years.
• Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) is measured from –999 to +999 mV, with ±20 mV accuracy, using a platinum ORP sensor integrated with the pH sensor.
• Turbidity is measured from 0 to 4,000 NTU, with accuracy of ±2 per cent of reading or 0.2 NTU. Measurements are temperature-compensated and filtered to remove non-turbidity spikes, with an integrated wiper to keep optics clean.
• Optical Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is measured both as concentration (0–50 mg/L) and percentage saturation (0–500%). The sensor uses an EPA-approved lifetime luminescence method, with compensation for temperature and salinity.
• Conductivity measurements range from 1 µS/cm to 200 mS/cm, using four graphite electrodes and automatic temperature correction. Accuracy is ±0.5 per cent up to 5,000 µS, and ±2 per cent thereafter.
• Salinity is calculated from conductivity readings across a range of 0 to 70 PSU, with accuracy of ±2 per cent. PSU (Practical Salinity Units) is equivalent to parts per thousand (ppt).
• Fluorometric sensing includes:

1. CDOM/fDOM from 0.6 to 2,000 ppb
2. Chlorophyll-a (red and blue excitation) from 0 to 500 µg/L
3. Tryptophan from 0 to 2,000 ppb

These sensors use high-quality LED-based fluorometry with linearity of R² = 0.99, temperature-compensated down to –50°C, and are rated to 100 metres depth.

• Ion-Selective Electrodes (ISEs) support nutrient and ion monitoring, including:

1. Ammonium: 0–100 mg/L as nitrogen
2. Nitrate: 0.1–14,000 ppm as nitrogen
3. Chloride: 1.8–35,500 ppm
4. Sodium, Calcium, Bromide: extended ranges available

Accuracy is ±2 mg/L or ±5 per cent, whichever is greater, with ionic-strength correction via conductivity readings.

• ISE sensors require regular field calibration and tip replacement every 3–6 months for ammonium and nitrate, depending on application conditions.
• Customised measurement ranges are available, with additional ion sensors scheduled for availability in Q2 2026.