July 10, 2023
innovation-in-water-challenge winnersLed by: Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water)
Partners: Bristol Water plc, Cardiff University, United Utilities, and Yorkshire Water Services Ltd
Competition: Innovation in Water Challenge
Funding awarded: £167,416
The Reservoir Monitoring project uses environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring to detect blue green algae responsible for producing certain harmless chemicals in drinking water that can lead to a musty smell. The hope is that by identifying and predicting the presence of these algae, water companies can improve the taste and smell and ultimately create better-quality drinking water.
Currently, these algae are detected manually, by humans analysing samples under the microscope and counting and identifying the algae. The eDNA process leads to faster and more accurate detection of these algae. The project, funded through the Ofwat Innovation Fund, aimed to make this technique more robust so it could be used outside of academic research (where it is currently practised), to become useful to the industry on a much bigger scale.
The project found the technique was able to predict when the chemicals, that lead to a musty smells, would be present allowing water companies to add additional appropriate treatment leading to better quality water and a more sustainable supply. The technique also reduced costs by treating the issue before it became a problem. The project proved that this detection tool could be useful to the industry at large and created a useful visualisation tool for prediction of incidents.
The team were able to establish, refine and optimise the methodology and share it with other water companies. Through these secondary projects, Reservoir Monitoring has been able to expand to multiple different reservoirs, gathering more datasets and sampling them more regularly.
As a result, they have now built a number of mathematical models for prediction, creating live dashboards to the share the data generated with water companies in a dynamic fashion, so that they can better manage their workforce.
“The Reservoir Monitoring project has been invaluable in providing water companies with a more holistic view of what’s going on in their reservoirs at any given point. In ecology we’re always looking at who is interacting with who because it’s an ecosystem. What we have learnt is that it’s not necessarily the ‘problem species’ alone, it’s who they are interacting with. So if the species they rely on aren’t present, you’re not likely to see growth from those ‘problem species’ and therefore the water quality issues. It’s a useful early indicator tool, which has the potential to massively improve water quality for customers, as well as cost-saving benefits.”
This case study was featured in the Ofwat Innovation Fund 2023 Annual Report – read more:
