Project overview

SETIER: Monitoring and evaluation of low‑cost sensors for wastewater‑treatment installations: water quality and energy

The SETIER project was launched in 2019 in partnership with the Rhône‑Méditerranée‑Corse Water Agency, INRAE and IRD. Coordinated by INRAE (Stéphanie Prost‑Boucle and Rémi Clément), it builds on the global development of open‑source electronics and inexpensive, miniaturized, portable sensors. This trend makes measurements of water quality (conductivity, pH, turbidity, COD, temperature, redox, dissolved O₂, energy) increasingly accessible. The sensors enable finer spatio‑temporal monitoring (metre, minute) of wastewater‑treatment and resource‑recovery plants. This “SMART Project” approach expands rapidly to other environmental fields such as air pollution and hydrology. Open‑source tools provide high flexibility (measurement selection, sensor count, sampling frequency) and support a more sustainable practice by allowing component‑level repair and reuse.

On GitLab you will find three types of measurement stations developed in our laboratories, following a “LEGO” philosophy.This philosophy relies on:

• sensors that have been laboratory‑validated to ensure performance and to meet the identified wastewater‑treatment requirements

• a solder‑free assembly strategy based on commercially available modules sold in France by specialist electronics distributors;

• a comprehensive documentation sheet indexed in the repository.

Station 1 measures flow rate or water level; it includes a precision ultrasonic sensor with a range of 10 – 150 cm.

Station 2 is the physicochemical station; it includes temperature, electrical conductivity, redox, pH, and dissolved‑oxygen probes.

Station 3 is the energy station; it includes up to four current‑clamp sensors.

Station 4 is the pressure station; it includes up to four pressure sensors (water‑level measurement).

Documentation

Online you will find documents required for assembly and use of SETIER stations. The documents are:

• Assembly guide for the stations in French https://www.setier.fr/fr/SETIER.pdf.

• Assembly guide for the stations in English https://www.setier.fr/en/SETIER.pdf.

• Assembly guide for the stations in Spanish https://www.setier.fr/es/SETIER.pdf.

• 3D‑print model of the basket base for the flow station https://forge.inrae.fr/open-hardware/setier-datalogger/-/blob/main/3D%20CAO/support_flowmeter_V3.stl?ref_type=heads.

• 3D‑print model of the basket base for the physicochemical station.

• 3D‑print model of the basket base for the energy station https://forge.inrae.fr/open-hardware/setier-datalogger/-/blob/main/3D%20CAO/support_for_energyt.stl?ref_type=heads.

• 3D‑print model of the basket base for the pressure station https://forge.inrae.fr/open-hardware/setier-datalogger/-/blob/main/3D%20CAO/support_for_4_20ma.stl?ref_type=heads.

• flowmeter_datalogger_connexion.pdf, wiring diagram of the components flow‑meter datalogger.

• physico_chemical_datalogger_connexion.pdf, wiring diagram of the components of the physicochemical datalogger.

• energy_datalogger_connexion.pdf, wiring diagram of the components of the energy datalogger.

• logigramme_soft_setier.pdf, decision flowchart assisting use of the Arduino software on the various dataloggers.

• setier‑calibration‑file.xlsm, an Excel workbook with macros for the physicochemical datalogger. It performs calibration of the four physicochemical sensors (redox, O₂, pH, conductivity) while using the datalogger’s Wi‑Fi simultaneously.

• setier_datalogger_code, directory containing the full source code for configuring and operating the various dataloggers. Download the entire folder.

Articles et rapports techniques

Débimètre low-tech :

1. Guyard H., Prost-Boucle S., Sudre J., Moreau S., Imig A., Favreau G., Quatela V., Clément R. (2024) An open-source flowmeter for monitoring the input/output flow rates of wastewater treatment plants. HardwareX, OHX_e00613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00613

Instrumentation low-tech et informations sur le projet SETIER :

1. Clément R., Imig A., Prost-Boucle S. (2025) Les contours d’une instrumentation durable. NOV’AE Numéro Spécial #04 RSE, p157-162. ISSN : 2823-2283 / e-ISSN : 2823-3980. https://revue-novae.fr/article/view/9695

2. Prost-Boucle S., Kamgang-Nzeufo H., Bardot T., Moreau S., Guyard H., Duwig C., Kim B., Dubois V., Gillot S., Clément R. (2022) Capteurs bon marché et centrales d’acquisition D.I.Y pour les eaux usées : le projet SETIER. Techniques Sciences et Méthodes (TSM) n°1/2-2022-117e année, 35-44. https://astee-tsm.fr/articles/tsm-1-2-2022-prost-boucle/

Rapport du projet SETIER 1 :

1. Clément R., Guyard H., Imig A., Moreau S., Prost-Boucle S., Quatela V., Sudre J. (2023) Projet SETIER : Rapport technique du projet. https://hal.science/hal-04772378v1

Posters

1. Journées de la Mesure (J2M) : Sudre J., Prost-boucle S., Guyard H., Imig A., Quatela V., Dubois V., Moreau S., Clement R. Banc de démonstration SETIER, avec centrale Physico-chimique, Energie et Débitmètrique

2. Conférence internationale EGU : Imig A., Guyard H., Prost-Boucle S., Quatela V., Moreau S., Sudre J., Clement R. (2024) The SETIER project: an open source flowmeter for monitoring flow rates of wastewater treatment plants. Poster. EGU, Vienna, Austria

Communications orales

1. Congrès national de l’Astee : Prost-Boucle S., Clément R. (2021) Intérêt des capteurs bon marché pour l’analyse des eaux usées : un outil complémentaire à la gestion des stations ? 100ème congrès de l’ASTEE, Paris. https://hal.science/hal-03727479

2. Journées Techniques nationales Epnac : Prost-Boucle S., Clément R. (2024) Suivi et Evaluation des capTeurs low-cost pour les Installations de traitement des Eaux usées : débitmétrie, qualité des eaux et éneRgie. Journée de formation Epnac-OiEau (évènement en ligne)

3. Journées Techniques nationales Epnac : Prost-Boucle S., Clément R. (2023) Suivi et Evaluation des capTeurs low-cost pour les Installations de traitement des Eaux usées : débitmétrie, qualité des eaux et éneRgie. 14 ème Journées Techniques Epnac, Angoulême

4. Réseau des exploitants de stations d’épuration du GRAIE : Prost-Boucle S., Sudre J., Imig A., Clément R. (2022) Le projet SETIER : capteurs bon marché pour l’analyse des eaux usées - Des outils complémentaires à la gestion des stations. https://hal.science/hal-03727487v1

Prix et distinctions

1. Lauriers d’INRAE -2025 - Rémi Clément, créateur d’instrumentation ouverte. https://www.inrae.fr/dossiers/lauriers-inrae/remi-clement-createur-dinstrumentation-ouverte