The taster in your water line
Jan 06, 2011
Although drinking water is monitored more strictly than almost anything, our water supply network is still not immune to accidents, wear and tear or targeted attacks. A one-minute warning system for toxins and other substances in water hazardous to health could set off alarms in future if there is a danger.
The micro-organisms in the sensor were modified so that they produce a protein that has a red fluorescence. The fluorescence changes if it comes into contact with toxic substances. A highly sensitive camera system that the Karlsruhe, Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB came up with has an analysis unit that registers even the most minute changes in fluorescence and then analyzes them automatically. Dr. Thomas Bernard, the group manager at the IOSB, tells us why: ”The monitoring unit has a machine-learning process for learning from historical data which fluctuations in the physical, chemical and biological parameters are normal. It sets off an alarm if an unusual pattern shows up in the signals.” The bio-sensor reacts to the smallest quantities of hazardous substances and Dr. Trick provides the explanation: “Our sensor can document even very slight concentrations.” Let’s not forget that classical poisons such as cyanide or ricin as well as plant protectives or toxic metabolic products from bacteria can be fatal even in concentrations of nanograms per liter.
They have to guarantee optimum life conditions for the microorganisms to operate the bio-sensor on a permanent basis. This is the reason why the researchers at the IOSB have come up with a system that automatically monitors and regulates important parameters such as temperature and inflow of nutrients. Another component of the Aqua-BioTox system is a daphnia toximeter of their Kiel, Germany-based project partner bbe Moldaenke, who noticed that water fleas react particularly sensitively to nerve poisons. They are testing this monitoring system in a closed performance route on the grounds of Berlin‘s water company, that is incidentally another partner in this project. The idea behind it is making the system as small and cost-effective as possible so that a network of sensor units communicating with one another could be installed that is distributed over sensitive points in the drinking water network.
Frauenhofer-Gesellschaft
Hansastraße 27 c
80686 München
Postfach 20 07 33
80007 München
Tel.: 089/1205-13 00
Fax: 089/1205-75 15
presse@zv.fraunhofer.de
http://www.fraunhofer.de
More News and Articles
Apr 17, 2024
News
Immersive media provides wastewater experience in Denmark
An immersive media experience (IMX) may not be what most people want when they think about industrial wastewater, but that is exactly what visitors can expect when they visit a new installation in the city of Kalundborg, Denmark.
Apr 15, 2024
News
Spotlight on gender diversity at Pipe Core
Since founding in 2008, Pipe Core’s team has grown across all areas of the business and is now in a position where there are more females than males across the organisation. Research published in Harvard Business Review found that “countries …
Apr 12, 2024
News
New Wave of Startups Scale Innovation to Solve Global Water Challenges
Innovators from Around the World Join Xylem’s 2024 Accelerator Program to Deploy Breakthrough Innovations for Utilities and Industrial Users of Water
Apr 08, 2024
News
Integrated sustainable electricity and clean drinking water systems
Altitude Water and New Use Energy Solutions have partnered to create integrated, mobile solar-plus-water generation systems that produce sustainable electricity and clean drinking water anytime, anywhere.
Apr 05, 2024
News
How to Evaluate Hydraulic Fracture Risk in HDD Design
The design of horizontal directional drill (HDD) installations often requires an evaluation of the potential for hydraulic fracture of the soil layers through which an HDD passes. Evaluating this risk during the design process is an important planning tool to …
Apr 02, 2024
News
Historic Project Linking Rome and Vatican City Uses Advanced Technology and Local Knowledge to Keep Water Flowing
Relocation of Major Sewer Infrastructure Enables Construction of Pedestrian Link for 35 Million Visitors to the 2025 Jubilee
Mar 27, 2024
News
USU Study Looks at Water Main Break Rates in the U.S. and Canada
Report Highlights Correlation Between Material and Diameter
Mar 26, 2024
News
Update BE-21: New Material in Course and Modules on Trenchless Pipe Installation
Online training on the topic of pipeline installation in civil engineering: Trenchless technology for underground drainage construction can be a resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, time-saving, and cost-effective alternative to open cut methods. The UNITRACC e-learning course "Utility Tunnelling" has been enhanced …
Mar 25, 2024
Article
Bacteria as a new weapon in wastewater treatment
In early November, San Diego based startup Aquacycl officially opened its first European office and test center at the Water Campus in Leeuwarden. The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) and the Investment and Development Agency for the Northern Netherlands (NOM) …
Mar 22, 2024
News
A superior HDD offering
Building on its relationships with leading horizontal directional drilling companies, TRACTO Australia has delivered three new rigs to operator Superior HDD.
Mar 20, 2024
News
New portable water filtration technology could improve access to clean drinking water worldwide
The University of Texas at Austin has developed an injectable water filtration system with the aim to aid the over two billion people worldwide who are without clean drinking water.
Mar 18, 2024
News
Global Student Innovation Challenge Calls on Next-Generation Leaders to Tackle Water Security
High School and University Students Worldwide Invited to Expand Water Access and Community Resilience