Centre for Research in Biosciences

Safe Water and Antimicrobial Solutions for Resource Constrained Healthcare Facilities

Research, Business and Innovation | 5 July 20225 July 2022

Written by Dr Gillian Clayton, Centre for Research in Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Applied Science

Humanitarian settings, such as refugee camps, require consistent access to safe, high-quality water, but this can be difficult due to complex supply chains. If supply chains are interrupted or delayed, vital clinical solutions like sterile saline used to wash out wounds, and antimicrobials, such as hypochlorous acid, used to disinfect instruments and wash wounds are essential to ensure patient safety. Typically, clinical fluids (e.g. sterile saline and antimicrobials) are produced, packaged and transported in a ‘centralised’ manner. For example, solutions may be produced in the UK and then held at a storage facility/warehouse, before being transported via land, air and/or sea to the healthcare facility.

However, the Redistributed Manufacturing in Healthcare Network has investigated the potential to allow for clinical fluids to be produced on-site and on-demand, minimising the need for storage and transportation. A proof-of-concept project lead by UWE in collaboration with The Usher Institute (University of Edinburgh), Centrego Ltd, Portsmouth Aqua Ltd, The Royal College of Surgeons of England and Water for People and Peace investigated “The On-Demand Manufacture of Potable & Sterile Water for Emergency Medical, Humanitarian & Healthcare Applications Using Electrochemical Activation Production Technologies”. This project developed, adapted and repurposed Electrochemically Activated technologies for the on-demand production of clinical fluids for healthcare facilities in resources constrained environments. This project demonstrated that simple, low-cost and low-energy technologies can produce sterile solutions from tap or bottled waters, as well as produce a high-quality antimicrobial solution (hypochlorous acid) from a small-scale portable generator. These prototype technologies have shown that remote or resource constrained healthcare facilities can be adaptive and more resilient in a changing world through decentralised production, or redistributed manufacturing.

*The low-cost and low-energy small-scale portable prototype generators, designed to produce sterile solutions from tap or bottled waters (top), as well as a high-quality antimicrobial solution (bottom)*

New journal article published in Science of the Total Environment

Research, Business and Innovation | 30 June 202230 June 2022

Written by Bethany Fox, Research Associate in Centre for Research in Biosciences (CRIB)

A new paper has been published in Science of the Total Environment (STOTEN), “A case study: The deployment of a novel in situ fluorimeter for monitoring biological contamination within the urban surface waters of Kolkata, India”.

This paper details the deployment of a novel in situ fluorescence sensor in the urban surface waters of Kolkata. The case study demonstrates the benefit of this technology with recent advances in understanding and technological capability. Using the new sensor, developed by our technology partner Chelsea Technologies Ltd., the team were able to identify a blackwater contamination event in the Hooghly River (Ganga) in Kolkata, India. The team also conclude that the use of this technology would provide information regarding biological water quality in situ and in real-time, important information which is often missing from our current monitoring practices due limited to time consuming and expensive sampling surveys.

This paper is an output from the NERC-DST India-UK Water Quality project which focused on the development and implementation of technologies for improved water quality. Within this project, UWE has been in partnership with Professor Tapan K Dutta and his team at the Bose Institute in Kolkata alongside multiple UK technology partners.

*Sensor boat survey and water quality monitoring of the Hooghly River (Ganga) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.*

Running, safe water

Research, Business and Innovation | 3 May 20223 May 2022

Written by Bethany Fox, Research Associate in Centre for Research in Biosciences (CRIB)

Access to safe water should be a basic right for all. Turning on a tap to drink from seems so natural to many of us, but with 1 in 3 people around the world not having access to safe drinking water, there is still much to be done. The COVID-19 pandemic has only further highlighted the importance of clean water, sanitation and good hygiene, with those without access to water being disproportionately vulnerable.

Frank Water is a Bristol-based water charity that began life in 2005 as a social enterprise which donated all profits to an NGO in India for water projects. It is now a registered charity providing safe water, sanitation and good hygiene to communities in India and Nepal, helping almost 500,000 people to date. Frank also works within the UK providing education regarding sustainable approaches to water.

UWE Bristol has an ongoing relationship with Frank Water and have been actively working together on a NERC-DST India-UK Water Quality project for the past 4 years. This project focused on the development and implementation of technologies for improved water quality.

One of the key aims within this project was to provide a low-cost small-scale sustainable technology to treat biologically contaminated stored water, such as that from a borehole or harvested rainwater. Working with Frank Water, Indian NGO Bala Vikasa and technology partner Centrego, we have begun the deployment of two prototype systems: one in a government school in Hyderabad, Telangana, to ensure a safe supply of drinking water for the school children and staff; and, a second system in Massampally, a remote tribal village in the Warangal district of Telangana, where the systems are treating water from a contaminated open well to provide a source of safe drinking water to the village’s 33 households which rely on this well for all their water, sanitation and hygiene needs.

Open well in Massampally, Telangana, India, which is only water source available to the majority of the 33 households in the village.

Having seen first-hand the amazing work undertaken by Frank Water Projects and their collaborators in India, UWE researcher Dr Bethany Fox has chosen to fundraise for Frank Water by running the Bristol Half Marathon in September 2022. This will be Bethany’s first half marathon but she hopes to raise awareness and money to support Frank Water and the amazing work they do.