Water Level Sensors

CBS 500

The Ott CBS 500 is a versatile bubbler system designed for precise, long term water level measurement. Using proven air bubble technology, it delivers dependable measurements in surface water and groundwater applications, including locations affected by sediment, fouling and demanding environmental conditions.

With no submerged electronics, flexible datalogger integration and low power consumption, the CBS 500 is ideally suited to remote monitoring stations, observation wells and off grid installations.

Applications

• Streams, rivers and canals
• Reservoirs and lakes
• Wetlands
• Groundwater observation wells
• Open channels
• Remote hydrological monitoring stations
• Battery-powered and solar-powered installations

Proven technology for reliable level data

The Ott CBS 500 measures water level indirectly using the proven air bubble principle.  Air is supplied through a measuring tube to a bubble chamber installed at a known measuring point.  The pressure required to produce bubbles corresponds to the water level above the chamber.

Because the measurement electronics remain outside the water, the system is well suited to sites where submerged sensors may be affected by sediment, biological fouling or aggressive water conditions.

The result is stable, reliable level monitoring across a wide range of hydrological applications.

Accurate and dependable measurements

The CBS 500 provides a resolution of 1 mm and accuracy of up to ±3 mm within the 0 to 5 m measuring range.

Two measuring-range variants are available:

• 0 to 15m, 0 to 1,500mbar, 0 to 50ft or 0 to 25psi
• 0 to 30m, 0 to 3,000mbar, 0 to 100ft or 0 to 50psi

A selection of metric and imperial measurement units supports different project and reporting requirements.

CBS 500 Models

Three Compact Bubbler System models are available:

• Ott Compact Bubbler System (0m – 15m / ± 5mm accuracy)
• Ott Compact Bubbler System (0m – 30m / ± 5mm accuracy).

Flexible integration into monitoring networks

The Ott CBS 500 is designed for straightforward integration into new or existing monitoring stations.

Available communication interfaces include:

• SDI-12
• SDI-12 via RS-485, version 1.4
• Modbus RTU via RS-485

These interfaces allow the CBS 500 to connect with Ott, Sutron and compatible third party dataloggers without restricting the station to a single equipment ecosystem.

Measurement units are factory preset and can be configured to suit metric or imperial monitoring requirements.

Available measurement units

• Metres
• Centimetres
• Millimetres
• Millibars
• Bars
• Feet
• Inches
• PSI
• Kilopascals

Designed for remote and off-grid stations

Operating from a 10 to 30 V DC power supply, typically 12 or 24 V DC, the CBS 500 is suitable for battery and solar powered installations.

Intelligent pump control helps minimise energy consumption while maintaining reliable operation. This makes the system particularly useful for remote locations where mains power is unavailable and routine site access may be difficult.

One solution for surface water and groundwater

The CBS 500 can be configured for different monitoring environments by selecting the appropriate bubble chamber and installation arrangement.

Typical configurations include:

• Bubble pots for rivers, streams, reservoirs and open channels
• Groundwater bubble chambers for observation wells and boreholes

This flexibility allows monitoring organisations to use one proven measurement platform across multiple hydrological applications.

This product is manufactured by Ott and proudly represented by Aqualab Scientific.