Implementation of online water quality measurement

The project has further developed online monitoring of drinking water quality through flow cytometric surveillance of microbial content in drinking water.

Instruments for online monitoring are operational at selected locations within the distribution network and water treatment plants at Sydvatten and VA SYD. The project has also produced a digital tool for interpreting, visualising, and sharing flow cytometric (FCM) results. Work on the tool had to be terminated prematurely but provided important insights, including data management and security, which have formed the basis for continued efforts. Together with data processing models developed by industrial PhD student Isabel Erb for bathing water and later for groundwater, a new tool was created as a proof of concept.

For large-scale implementation of FCM and other modern analyses of microbial water quality, changes are required at several levels. Technology and interpretation are important pieces of the puzzle, but transformation is also needed within organisations, legislation, and policy. To address these challenges, the project has laid the foundation for two further projects with broad stakeholder engagement and funding from Water Wise Societies and Vinnova: From Analogue to Digital in the World of Microbes and From Plate to Pixel – Faster Decisions for Safe and Sustainable Water Use.