{"id":28955,"date":"2016-05-18T10:33:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T14:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=28955"},"modified":"2016-05-18T10:33:43","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T14:33:43","slug":"fast-inexpensive-test-for-water-bacteria-developed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=28955","title":{"rendered":"Fast, Inexpensive Test for Water Bacteria Developed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"E.<\/a>
E. coli bacteria (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

18 May 2016. A team at York University in Toronto designed a water-testing kit connecting to a smartphone that makes testing for water-borne bacteria faster and less expensive. The Mobile Water Kit, from the lab of engineering professor\u00a0Sushanta Mitra<\/a>, is described in a recent issue of the journal Analyst<\/em><\/a> (free registration required).<\/p>\n

Developers of the kit started a spin-off company from the university, Glacierclean Technologies Inc.<\/a> in Toronto, to commercialize the technology. Mitra is one of the company’s founders.<\/p>\n

Mitra and colleagues at York University<\/a> created the system to meet a need for easier ways to test for microbes in water, such as E. coli<\/em> bacteria. While water-borne bacteria are a major public health problem in developing regions<\/a>, contamination of water supplies happens in economically developed areas as well. In 2000, some 2,300 of the 5,000 residents in the the rural town of Walkerton, Ontario<\/a> fell ill from E. coli<\/em> contamination in their drinking water, leading to 7 deaths. News reports of the incident quote a regional public health official saying the outbreak could have been prevented.<\/p>\n

Current water testing technologies require taking samples and sending them to a remote lab for testing, a process that often takes a whole day or more. The Mobile Water Kit returns results on the spot in 1 to 2 hours, with a simple color test to indicate the presence of E. coli<\/em> in the sample. The testing device then sends the results to a smartphone app for display and transmission.<\/p>\n

The test kit uses a hydrogel matrix with a combination of enzymes and chemicals<\/a> the York team tested to find the optimum mix for E. coli<\/em> detection. The hydrogel, a material containing mainly water with enough substance to form into a 3-D gel matrix, fits into a plunger-tube assembly that mixes with the water sample. If the sample contains E. coli,<\/em> the enzymes react to the presence of bacteria and change the water to a visible red color. If there are no E. coli<\/em> in the sample, the color of the water does not change.<\/p>\n

“This is a significant improvement over the earlier version<\/a> of the device” says Mitra in a university statement, “that required more steps, handling of liquid chemicals and so on.” The researchers also estimate the kit can return results for about CAD 3.00 (USD 2.30) a test, much less expensive than current methods.<\/p>\n

“We have received a significant number of queries from related industries,” says Naga Siva Gunda, president of Glacierclean Technologies and a co-author of the research paper. “We strongly believe that the product is in a unique position as the only one available in the market for rapid detection of E. coli<\/i>.”<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n