JNC Technology launched the world's first smart water quality monitor-Intelligent Mercury (I-Mercury) in 2021. The innovative automatic cleaning and smart calibration features address the challenges risen in practical use, which in turn greatly reduced the cost for system deployment, management, and maintenance. The success allows JNC to establish highly efficient prevention and control mechanisms for clients and create the next generation smart water AIoT.

AIoT collects valid data and then automatically transmits it to a central server for analysis and compilation. This process creates a real-time smart monitoring system with an extensive archive for future use. Jun-Ming Yang, the general manager of JNC points out, "Communication technology has considerably matured over the years. The setback with front-end data collection lies in inadequate monitoring equipment. There are two challenges that need to be addressed and conquered."

The first challenge is that the monitor immersed in water is likely to be covered in a biofilm after a prolonged period. In some areas, living organisms like shellfish may attach themselves to the monitor as well. When that happens, the data collected may be faulty and thus resulting in false alarms and misjudgments. To prevent such unfortunate occurrences, constant manual cleaning is mandatory, which can be expensive and cumbersome. I-Mercury is equipped with a micro air pump programmed to automatically self-clean according to a schedule. The device not only enhances accuracy and service life but also reduces the frequency of manual cleaning, greatly lowering maintenance costs.

The second challenge lies in calibration. To ensure data accuracy, the water quality monitor requires recalibration every month, a process that typically involves at least two people, and one of whom must be a highly skilled professional engineer. The entire process takes up to 60 minutes. General Manager Yang points out, "When it comes to the calibration of I-Mercury, only one person is needed. No special training or sophisticated equipment is necessary to perform the task. All that is needed is to take out the mobile phone and follow the step-by-step instructions on the user-friendly web interface. It only takes six minutes to complete the entire process. This is without a doubt an unprecedented breakthrough in the industry.”

In addition to addressing the two main challenges at present, I-Mercury is also equipped with solar panels and a smart dormant energy-saving system. Powered by green energy, the system works non-stop throughout the year. The wireless monitor is in compliance with the current ESG trends and can be directly installed at the measuring site for better accuracy. It is especially useful for harvesting statistics from rivers, lakes, and other open water areas.

How is JNC able to achieve the impossible? General Manager Yang explains, "We are an ISO9001-certified system manufacturer, not a system integrator. Other monitoring systems in the market are composed of many individual parts from different sources. JNC, on the other hand, starts directly from scratch, developing our proprietary sensors, transmission controllers, and floating boards. Machinery, circuits, molds, and software are all vertically integrated into the system. I-Mercury is our third-generation product that took five years to evolve and prefect.”

JNC's highly integrated R&D strategy empowers the creation of exceptionally user-friendly tools and services for customers with their extensive domain knowledge. I-Mercury adopts a modular building block design, allowing clients to combine up to six groups of different sensors to find the perfect combination. The system's high flexibility and easy installation features mean that clients can have the system up and working in 30 minutes on their own. The exclusive operation interface is clean, precise, and user-friendly. Just like iPhone, one can navigate intuitively without the need for a manual.

I-Mercury is compact, green-powered, easy to install, and low maintenance. Clients enjoy complete control over the system. This is definitely an upgraded solution for public environmental protection and water-related sectors in need of river early warning systems. It proves invaluable for smart agriculture farmers seeking to monitor the water quality of hydroponic factories and aquafarms, or wastewater treatment plants engaged in monitoring and analyzing the composition of influent and effluent water.

General Manager Yang acknowledges that JNC is a newcomer in the water quality monitoring market and enjoys less exposure than leading international manufacturers. Nevertheless, “This is without a doubt the best solution of the next generation. A simple 10-minute demonstration is enough for us to secure any order.”