Reservoir water community monitoring for algal associated risk assessment

Reservoir water community monitoring for algal associated risk assessment

Amount awarded: £167,416

Led by: Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water)

Partners: Bristol Water plc, Cardiff University, United Utilities, and Yorkshire Water Services Ltd.

The project will build on environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring methodologies to detect algae in drinking water to improve its taste and smell. It aims to improve the speed of delivery of sample processing and results through a user-friendly data visualisation portal. This will include academic partners analysing data to provide interpretation of Taste and Odour risk level.

The knowledge and technology developed during the project will be made accessible to water companies, enabling them to take the process in-house or establish the system as an outsourced service. The project will also advance reservoir sampling protocols to address Taste and Odour risk monitoring and the knowledge and skills from Cardiff University will be transferred out to the reservoir labs to improve the water sector’s understanding of how to analyse eDNA.

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Resources:

For more information on Reservoir water community monitoring for algal risk assessment, take a look at the following resources:

• Read the case study from July 2023
• The foreground IPR developed by this project is as follows:
  • Mathematical models for prediction and live dashboards

The project has also shared their insights in a Knowledge Showcase event available in the Spring Knowledge Transfer Library here, and Cardiff University have published a paper available here.