SourceSentinel a Quantum Risk Solutions product
Designed in the UK Get in touch

Continuous private water supply monitoring

Between two water tests a year lies 363 days of silence.

SourceSentinel watches a private water supply continuously, so a contamination event is seen in hours, not at the next scheduled visit. A monitoring instrument built by Quantum Risk Solutions.

Measures: five supply quality parameters Readings: every 30 minutes Built by: Quantum Risk Solutions

Turbidity · illustrative trace reading every 30 min
parametric limit alert sent sample sample
Two scheduled samples cannot see an event that happens between them. Continuous measurement can. The trace above is illustrative, not recorded field data.

The gap in the current regime

Annual sampling gives one snapshot a year. Contamination does not wait for the appointment.

Under the Private Water Supplies Regulations 2016, most supplies are tested once or twice a year by the local authority, with results from an accredited laboratory returned days later. Cryptosporidium, E. coli and nitrate from agricultural sources can all rise sharply after rainfall. A supply contaminated on day two of a 365 day cycle can be consumed for a year before anyone knows.

~9%
of private supply samples in Wales were found to contain E. coli in 2024 (210 of 2,342 tested), a marker of faecal contamination.
Drinking Water Inspectorate, Drinking Water 2024
0.01%
the E. coli detection rate in public mains water. Private supplies run hundreds of times higher.
Drinking Water Inspectorate, 2024
~3%
of private supply samples in England contained E. coli in 2022, with 5.1 percent showing Enterococci.
Drinking Water Inspectorate, 2020 to 2022

What it measures

Five surrogate parameters, every thirty minutes.

SourceSentinel measures indicators that change when supply quality changes. These are recognised surrogates for risk. They flag when something needs a closer look, and when an accredited sample should be brought forward.

01 / turbidity
Turbidity
NTU

The primary surrogate for microbiological contamination under drinking water standards. A sharp rise often follows rainfall driven ingress.

02 / conductivity
Conductivity
µS/cm

Detects mineralisation changes and possible ingress, including saline intrusion, that shift the character of the water.

03 / pH
pH
0-14

A core wholesomeness parameter. Movement outside the expected band can signal a change at source or in the ground.

04 / temperature
Temperature
°C

Context for the other readings and a factor in microbiological risk. Recorded alongside every measurement.

In development
05 / organics
UV-A absorbance
254 nm

An indicator of dissolved organic matter, the precursor for disinfection by-product formation in chlorinated supplies. Planned for a later hardware revision.

the point
17,520 readings a year
vs one or two lab samples

Continuous data does not replace the lab result. It removes the year long blind spot around it.

The system

What SourceSentinel does, end to end.

More than a sensor. SourceSentinel is a monitoring system. It measures, checks every reading against the limits that matter, raises the alarm when something is wrong, and turns a year of data into a report the local authority can read.

continuous measurement
Always on

Records turbidity, conductivity, pH and temperature every thirty minutes, day and night, from a single point on the supply.

automated alerting
Told the moment it matters

Every reading is checked against the relevant parametric limits. A breach sends an immediate alert to the people who need to know.

live dashboard
The whole picture

A secure dashboard shows current readings and full history, so a supply's behaviour over weeks and seasons is visible at a glance.

reporting
Ready for the regulator

Produces a quarterly summary formatted for submission to the Drinking Water Inspectorate, without manual collation.

resilient connectivity
Built for remote supplies

Sends data over cellular and buffers locally where signal is poor, so a rural borehole is not a blind spot.

secure data
Yours, and protected

Data is held in the United Kingdom under UK GDPR, with security practices drawn from Quantum Risk Solutions' cybersecurity work.

Two views of the same supply

A clear picture for the owner. A shared view for the regulator.

SourceSentinel is built first for the people who depend on the supply. With their agreement, the same data can give the local authority a window onto the supplies it oversees.

for the supply owner
Know your own water

Holiday lets, campsites, care homes, schools and farms get a continuous, plain-language picture of their supply, and early warning when something changes, so they can act before a problem reaches anyone.

for the local authority
A window on the supplies you oversee

With owner consent, an authority can see continuous quality data across participating supplies, helping it target its statutory sampling towards the supplies that most need attention.

How it works

From the borehole to a report the local authority can read.

STEP 01
Install at the supply
Fitted at a post-pump sampling point in under thirty minutes. Mains or solar powered.
STEP 02
Measure every 30 min
Calibrated sensor circuits record all parameters. Data buffers locally where signal is poor.
STEP 03
Compare to limits
Each reading is checked against the relevant parametric values for the supply.
STEP 04
Alert and dashboard
A breach sends an immediate alert to nominated contacts. History is visible on a secure dashboard.
STEP 05
Quarterly report
A summary formatted for submission to the Drinking Water Inspectorate is produced automatically.

Where it fits, plainly stated

An early warning layer. Not a replacement for accredited testing.

We are precise about this, because the regulatory boundary matters. The accredited laboratory sample remains the compliance measurement. SourceSentinel makes the programme around it more responsive and better targeted.

What it does
  • Gives early warning of quality changes between statutory samples
  • Helps prioritise where sampling effort should go across a large area
  • Builds a continuous evidence base to support risk assessment
  • Alerts nominated contacts the moment a parameter breaches its limit
What it does not do
  • Measure microbiology directly, such as E. coli, coliforms or Cryptosporidium
  • Produce accredited results, or serve as a compliance determination
  • Remove or reduce the statutory duty to sample and analyse
  • Replace the accredited laboratory this work depends on

Built by Quantum Risk Solutions

A UK engineering and assurance team, not a single product startup.

Quantum Risk Solutions builds software, AI and connected hardware, with a focus on regulated and high assurance settings. SourceSentinel draws on the same disciplines we apply across our work: secure data handling, calibrated sensing, and turning compliance requirements into tools people can actually use. Our team holds commercially qualified drone operations capability and a background in security cleared environments.

Cybersecurity AI governance Data privacy Connected hardware Probabilistic modelling Computer vision Drone operations Responsible AI assurance

Who it is for

Built for the people responsible for a private supply.

If your property, business or community draws water from a borehole, spring or rainwater system, SourceSentinel gives you a continuous picture of its quality, and the evidence to show it is being looked after.

  • Holiday lets, campsites and hospitality on a private supply
  • Care homes, schools and farms serving others from their own source
  • Estate managers and letting agents responsible for multiple supplies
  • Local authorities seeking oversight of supply quality across their area

Talk to us

If SourceSentinel fits a supply you are responsible for, or a programme you run, we would like to hear from you.

  • Owners and operators   continuous monitoring as a service
  • Local authorities   an optional view across monitored supplies
  • Your data   yours, held securely under UK GDPR
  • Based   designed and supported in the United Kingdom
Get in touch

info@quantumrisksolutions.co.uk