West County to launch new water testing technology | News

It means that action could be taken more quickly if there is a pollution incident

A new system is being developed in the West Country to speed up the time it takes to test water quality.

The University of Plymouth and Molendotech say it could be completed in around 15 minutes – compared to the previous time of 48 hours.

It comes as the number of storm surges in South West waters has doubled in a year.

There are 150 bathing spots in Devon and Cornwall alone – and experts say monitoring water quality across the entire coast in near real time would be difficult and expensive.

Professor Simon Jackson, founder and chief scientific officer at Molendotech, said: “We are very pleased and excited to secure this funding.

“It will allow us to complete the development of an automated version of our water testing technology. This will enable a step change in water quality monitoring and is something that the water industry and stakeholders need.

“Frequent and real-time assessment of bathing water quality from different locations will enable meaningful maps of water quality that users and regulators can use to inform decision-making and guide practice.” It will be great to work with the collaborators at the University. from Plymouth to develop this innovative device.”

The new project aims to develop a remote, faster and more efficient means of testing the region’s seas and alerting authorities to any potential health hazards that are discovered.

The new initiative is being developed by Molendotech Ltd and the University of Plymouth, who between them have considerable expertise in autonomous marine systems and advanced water testing technologies.

Its aim will be to provide near-real-time remote assessments of water quality through an autonomous water sampling and testing device that builds on existing technology already developed by project partners.

The project will leverage the use of Bacterisk, a near-real-time bacterial risk assessment kit that provides a water quality assessment in 15 minutes (instead of other methods that currently take more than 48 hours) and adapt it to allows remote assessment of water. water quality.

The new system could allow water samples to be collected from the seabed to the surface every 30 minutes. The results will then be automatically communicated to those responsible for identifying and managing public health issues.

Molendotech is a spinout company of the University of Plymouth and works in two facilities managed by the university – the Brixham Laboratory in Devon and the Health and Wellbeing Innovation Center in Truro, Cornwall.

Dr Keiron Fraser, Associate Professor in Marine Conservation, said: “Bathing water quality in the UK has been a hot topic for many years.

“This funding will enable us to work alongside Molendotech to develop their leading Backterisk monitoring system into a fully autonomous product, utilizing the University of Plymouth’s considerable expertise in marine autonomy.

“The product we plan to develop will potentially enable real-time monitoring of bathing waters for water users, rather than the current weekly measurements. Therefore, providing faster detection of potential health hazards and improved safety for water users.”

The project is one of 12 to be awarded a share of almost £1.85 million from the Innovate UK Launchpad for the Great South West.

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