Tag: water quality

Update on Healthy Waters Research Projects at UWE 

Author rosieperrett | Posted on

By Rosie Perrett, Dr Connie Tulloch, and Matt Coombs 

The Healthy Waters blog is back! Our research group are currently working on three government funded research projects monitoring the health of rivers using sensors to measure various biological and physiochemical parameters. 

In 2022, no rivers in the UK were classified as having good overall health, which can be largely attributed to discharges of sewage effluent and agricultural runoff into rivers (The Rivers Trust, 2024). Collecting water quality data allows us to detect and monitor the impacts of pollution events in rivers and can inform evidence driven decision-making to improve river health and water safety.  

All three projects are using in-situ sensing technologies and spot sampling (paired with laboratory analysis) to assess UK river quality. However, each project is measuring slightly different water quality parameters according to the project aims and deliverables. 

Collecting water quality data with Chelsea fluorescence-based sensors and Xylem sondes

Development of an Innovative Intelligent Multiparameter Fluorometer to Sense the Impact of Organic Pollution on River Health 

Project partners: University of the West of England (UK academics), Chelsea Technologies (UK sensor manufacturers), The Rivers Trust (river conservation experts) 

This project is funded by Innovate UK and aims to develop and deploy a new multiparameter fluorescence-based sensor measuring organic pollution, algae (phytoplankton), and bacterial contamination. The new sensor technology will provide data on river health, for which there is currently a lack of data on since commercially available sensors predominantly measure physiochemical parameters.  

Following sensor development, prototypes will be deployed at three locations in the River Dart, collecting water quality and river health data in real time. River water samples will be collected for laboratory analysis involving: measurements of BOD5, microbial enumeration (heterotrophic bacteria and fecal indicator organisms), as well as carbon and nutrient concentrations.  

Another field trip with the Chelsea and Xylem sensors

The sensor will be low cost, making it accessible for community groups. AI and machine learning will be used to create a Water Quality Index by combining the measurement of the new parameters with additional real-time data, enabling interpretation of sensor data regarding river health. 

This new sensing technology will enable accurate, high-resolution monitoring of the impact of pollution discharges on bacterial contamination and organic pollution in rivers, improving the way we monitor and determine river health. 

MaD-OPS project – Monitoring and Detection of Organic Pollution from Sewage in rivers. 

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the MaD-OPS project aims to investigate the impact of pollution from both point sources (like sewage discharges) and diffuse sources (like agricultural run-off) on river health.  

Using fluorescence-based sensors supplied by our industry partner Chelsea Technologies and multiparameter Xylem EXO sondes, we will monitor a range of physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters.  

Our sensors will be connected to custom WATR tech environmental monitoring platforms, and data will be continuously uploaded and accessed through a cloud-based system. 

This forms the basis of our sensor network to monitor river health in our demonstrator catchment – The Bidwell Brook. 

Bidwell Brook, Devon

Alongside continuous sensor data provided to us via our sensor network; we’ll also be taking regular spot samples for ground truthing. Looking into nutrient concentrations, total carbon, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), faecal indicators, as well as DNA extraction for microbial communities. 

By linking our data with hydrological data – provided by the Environment Agency and event duration monitoring data (EDM) – provided by South West Water, we will create a Water Quality Index using AI and machine learning. This will provide a platform for communities to assess the health of their local rivers and see the impact of pollution events in real time, empowering them to take action when necessary. 

TWIN–Waters: Management of water resources: resilience, adaptation and mitigation to hydroclimatic extreme events and management tools. 

This project is funded by the European Commision and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with support and collaboration from the University of Lund (Sweden), The University of The West of England (UK) and Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Poland). 

The Project aims to integrate AI and Machine Learning with GIS and large data sets to create a digital platform for water quality monitoring. This digital platform will act as the “Digital Twin” of the water source which will be a valuable management tool. 

There are three phases to the project with UWE primarily involved in providing data from a range of novel sensors being used across other similar projects (MaD-OPS & Multiparameter Fluorometer).  

The project is currently in Phase One which aims to identify monitoring sites in each of the three countries.  At these sites, water quality sensors will be deployed to collect data which will be used in the GIS modelling alongside satellite data. 

In addition to this, each university partner will print and build 8 3D-Printable open-source microscopes designed by OpenFlexture. These microscopes will be used identification of Algae species, citizen science and public engagement events.  

3D microscopes at the Festival of Nature

UWE have seven monitoring sites across the River Dart and Bidwell Brook, from which data from sensors and traditional water quality parameters from laboratory analysis are being collected. The same sample sites are being used as the other projects within our research group as this will allow cross project data sharing, ultimately leading to a more comprehensive understanding of the catchment.  

The next stage of the project is to develop a functional model for each of the three catchments using the sensor data coupled with satellite data. This will require regularly uploading data to the digital platform for the AI and Machine Learning aspect of the model. The model will then begin to make assumptions and eventually make predictions to allow accurate water quality management. 

We’ll be posting on the Healthy Waters blog every month, with our next post being an introduction to the team.

Thinking about Sewage Releases into the River Where I Live

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Guest blog post by Professor Chad Staddon, Professor of Resource Economics and Policy

Sewage releases into rivers are a significant problem in Stroud District where I have lived for more than twenty years. They cause significant damage to the environment and pose a threat to public health. These releases occur mainly due to the fact that our sewage system combines surface water drainage and domestic sewage into a single underground network conveying all wastewaters to sewage treatment facilities and this system is increasingly frequently overwhelmed during periods of high rainfall.  Over-development means that ever more housing is connected to an underground sewerage system of fixed capacity (unless major sewerage upgrades that typically take years are implemented). Climate change is increasing the frequency of high rainfall events and therefore of sewage releases.

According to data collated by The Rivers Trust, in 2022 there were over 300 raw sewage discharges reported by Severn Trent Water into watercourses within the Stroud District.  Most sewage releases were caused by “insufficient hydraulic capacity”, meaning that the pipe network could not accommodate both domestic sewage and heavy rainfall.  For example, a combined sewer overflow (CSO) in about 2 km from where I live spilled a mixture of rainwater and sewage into the River Cam on 47 separate occasions and for a total of 223 hours.

One of the primary concerns associated with sewage releases into rivers is the impact on public health. When untreated sewage enters rivers, it can contain harmful pathogens and bacteria, such as E.coli and salmonella. These micro-organisms can pose a significant risk to human health, causing a range of severe illnesses, including gastroenteritis, hepatitis A, and cholera.  Sewage can also damage aquatic ecosystems, killing fish and other aquatic organisms, and lead to contamination of water sources that can affect drinking water quality.

A canal in Stroud

Severn Trent, the water company responsible for sewage treatment in most of Stroud District, has acknowledged the challenges posed by sewage releases and in 2022-23 invested over £25 million in drainage system and the wastewater treatment plant improvements in Stroud. This investment is intended to improve the capacity of the existing sewage treatment infrastructure thereby reducing the frequency of sewage releases.

In addition to upgrading wastewater treatment infrastructure, there are other measures that could be implemented to reduce sewage discharges into rivers.  District Councils, who have lead responsibilities for development permitting and control need to strengthen requirements around sustainable drainage.  In fact, they already have the tools to do so, with a requirement that new developments apply the “drainage hierarchy”, prioritising on-site water management solutions before connecting to sewers or releasing to the natural environment.  Solutions include the installation of green roofs and rain gardens in urban areas, and reinstating wetlands or ponds on larger development sites, all of which can help to reduce surface water runoff and therefore the volume of wastewater entering the sewer network.  If we can reduce the amount of rainwater draining into the wastewater network then over-capacity situations will become less frequent. 

The water sector regulator, Ofwat, also needs to do more to require water companies to invest more in the wastewater network.  Through its role approving company business plans, including capital investment, Ofwat has a strong influence over how much water companies invest in the drainage and wastewater system.  In fact Ofwat is partly to blame for the current high level of sewerage releases to the natural environment because it has not insisted on higher levels of water company investment, even when companies have proposed to do so.  The water quality crisis is very much a regulatory crisis.

Sewage going directly into a river

Public awareness campaigns can also help to raise awareness of the dangers associated with sewage releases into rivers and promote better environmental practices.  These campaigns can encourage people to avoid flushing inappropriate items, such as baby wipes and cooking fat, down the toilet and to be more mindful of how we dispose of waste.  Education programmes in schools could also help to promote better environmental practices and create a culture of sustainability among future generations.  It is also great to see citizens’ groups getting involved in monitoring river and lake water quality.

Sewage releases into rivers are a significant problem where I live and up and down the country posing threats to both public health and the environment. To address this issue, stakeholders must work together to implement measures that reduce the frequency of these discharges and limit the environmental damage caused by them. By upgrading the sewage treatment infrastructure, encouraging responsible environmental practices, strengthening regulatory powers, and raising public awareness of the dangers associated with these releases we can protect the natural beauty of our waterways and create a healthier environment for all.

References:

1. The Rivers Trust (2023). Sewage in our Rivers, Available at: https://theriverstrust.org/sewage-map

2. Staddon, C. (2010) Managing Europe’s Water: 21st century challenges, Ashgate Press.

3. UK Parliament Environmental Audit Committee (2022) Water quality in rivers Fourth Report of Session 2021–22, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmenvaud/74/report.html#

Visual Guide to Ram Pressing Water Filter Pots

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

By Rosy Heywood, Research Associate at the Centre for Print Research, UWE Bristol

The ceramics research team on the Healthy Waters project have designed and 3D printed a press mould to create porous water filter pots. The moulds were then fitted into a piston extruder to create a ram press. The ceramic ram-press function is an adaption of our hydraulic clay extruder, which is also used as a delivering system for ceramic paste in our experiments with large-scale 3D printing with robotic arms in other research projects.  

The benefits of ram pressing the pots is we could produce consistently sized and quality pots at speed. The clay used was a clay and sawdust mix and we have found it to be difficult to work with as it has a loose and fragile consistency. However, we have found ram pressing the clay forces the mixture to bind together due to the pressurised conditions. The pots are then fired at a low firing temperature of 800 degrees. The sawdust burns off in the kiln and the result is a porous ceramic structure. This research has been inspired by the methodology of Potters for Peace in their report titled ‘Best Practice Recommendations for Local Manufacturing of Ceramic Pot Filters for Household Water Treatment’.

Figure 1 Ram press set-up
Figure 2 Pot after pressing

The sample pots were manufactured in four different clay types in order to test the water filtration efficacy of a range of clays. The clays used were; red earthenware, white earthenware, porcelain and white stoneware. Each clay was used in powder form and mixed with equal parts of sawdust in volume before being combined with water to make plastic clay. The clay was then worked and wedged in preparation for ram pressing.

The video below shows our process of building a filter pot using the ram press. 

Ram press process for creating water filter pots for direct water filtration. Research conducted at the Centre for Print Research, UWE Bristol

If you would like to get in touch to discuss a collaboration with the Centre for Print Research, please send me an email at rosy.heywood@uwe.ac.uk.

Production and Prototyping Equipment for Manufacturing Ceramic Media for Water Biofiltration

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Image: Research Associates Rosy Heywood and Sonny Lightfoot using the extruder

Written by Rosy Heywood, Research Associate, Centre for Print Research

The production and prototyping of ceramic media has been predominantly based at the Centre for Print Research labs. The centre has expansive facilities with an array of technical equipment. Specialist machinery used in this project includes a hydraulic piston extruder and 3D printer. Other workshop equipment was utilised including an industrial dough mixer, ball mill and laser cutter.

During the design phase of creating the ceramic media it was considered a requirement that the production methods are able to produce 160 pieces of each type of media efficiently and consistently in size and also, the production method should be scalable and easily repeatable for future experimentation.

In our research, the importance of the porosity of the ceramic media was being analysed. And three production methods were established for the creation of three sets of media of varying porosities. Low porosity media was produced through extruding standard terracotta clay, medium porosity was produced by extruding a clay and sawdust composite and high porosity media was produced using an organic foam impregnation method. The specialist technical equipment used for low and medium porosity media is detailed below.   

Extrusion

With its origins in the production of bricks, extruders are now used in many different industries. According to Frank Handle in Extrusion in Ceramics, notable applications are in the production of foodstuffs such as pasta, shaping of aluminium profiles, wrought copper alloys and steel and for the extrusion of hard metal, graphite, coal and plastics.

The extruder housed at The Centre for Print Research was built by the technical team for the specific use with clay and clay composites. The clay is pushed through a die by the manually operated hydraulic ram. The die determines the extruded profile shape and size which can be extruded to different lengths.

To create the desired extrusions, we designed dies and 3D printed them to fit the ram cylinder. The benefits of using a piston extruder for this research is; it is easy to clean so small chance of contamination, little material is wasted and bespoke extrusion profiles can be produced with ease and precision using desktop 3D printers.

3D Printing

3D printing technology was utilised in this research to create bespoke manufacturing tools. Additive manufacturing is the production of 3D objects printed from a CAD (Computer Aided Design) model.

Filament is fed through the printer and the model is printed layer by layer. In prototyping we used a recycled Polylactic Acid (PLA) filament for the tools. PLA is a bio-plastic made from fermented plant starch and is commonly used in 3D printing due to versatility and ease of printing.

The advantage of using this technology is that we could create bespoke tools for specific processes during manufacturing the media. For example, a die was printed to extrude cylinders 20mm in diameter and a cutting jig was printed to cut them into exactly 20mm individual lengths.

Figure 2 3D printer in action printing an extrusion die

Investigating The Unique Properties of Ugandan Barkcloth as a Potential Filtration Material for Cleaning Contaminated Waters

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Main image: Final barkcloth. Source National Geograpic.

Written by Rosy Heywood, Research Associate, Centre for Print Research

On the Healthy Waters project one of our key focusses has been creating highly porous ceramic pots for direct filtration in low resource settings. I have recently been investigating a new material as either an alternative to ceramics or used in conjunction with it. The Ugandan barkcloth is made from bark of the native Mutuba tree (Ficus Natalensis). The bark regenerates itself for up to 100 years and the process of making it into useable cloth requires little resources and a moderate amount of labour compared to conventional cloth. No spinning of fibre, weaving of threads or dyeing of cloth is necessary. Although, sometimes the cloth is naturally dyed for aesthetic purposes. So, it is a very sustainable and renewable material.

Fig 1: Ficus Natalensis bark stripped from the tree. Source TDS blog. Fig 2: Bark beating to process into cloth. Source: Selvedge.

Barkcloth making in Uganda is on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The inner bark of the Mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis) is harvested in the wet season and beaten with wooden mallets until soft. The final cloth will be roughly 10 times its original size. Any tears are hand stitched and often fragments of cloth are stitched together to make larger pieces. The introduction of cotton has rendered barkcloth an endangered craft in Uganda. If using the cloth as a water filter proves successful, then it could give skilled jobs to local village people. The cloth is historically made by men but there is potential here to empower women by teaching them a new skill.

Simple cloth filters are used as a quick way to rid larger particles from contaminated waters. Studies have shown old worn sari cloth can reduce cholera incidence from water collected from ponds and rivers by half. (Huq et al, Colwell RR et al.)

The use of barkcloth from the Mutuba tree as a water filter has not yet been researched however there is some research of the properties of barkcloth for medical purposes and as a fashion textile. New research from science and textile researchers published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology examined the feasibility of using bark cloth as an antimicrobial fabric within wound care management. It found that Ugandan bark cloth could stop the growth of MRSA by more than 99 per cent. Researchers from Istituto Marangoni London and Manchester Metropolitan University have collaborated with artists, environmentalists, farmers and fashion design practitioners across the world to discover the potential applications of barkcloth including how it could be used as a responsible material in luxury fashion.

Fig 3: Barkcloth rinse/soak. Fig 4: Initial barkcloth water filtration test

I have carried out an initial porosity test by folding the cloth twice and wrapping it over a bucket. Water was then poured through a perforated cup on top of the cloth. The cloth showed resistance to water initially and then slowly water was able to flow through. The filtered water had a slightly orange tinge and contained a small amount of bark fibres. I tried pre-soaking the barkcloth however the soaked water changed colour to an orange/red hue.

This proved more testing is required for better quality outputs. This line of experimental research is at a very early stage and further inquiry is required to find out if barkcloth is a suitable material for filtering water. Including a toxicity report of the barkcloth soaked water, flow rate analysis and testing it in conjunction with ceramic filter discs.

Biofiltration – a new future for fresh water

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Around the world, the pressure to secure future supplies of fresh water is mounting. Only 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh, and only 0.77% of that water is deemed accessible. As if that’s not enough, only 10% of that is reported to be suitable for human consumption. Water demand globally is projected to increase by 55% between 2000 and 2050, driven by growing population sizes and their demand for agricultural products, energy supply and drinking water.

UNICEF’s 2019 report estimates that 1 in 10 people still lack basic water services (a protected and accessibly drinking water source, use of an improved toilet or latrine, and handwashing facilities in the home). This includes the 144 million people who drink untreated surface water; the consumption of biologically contaminated water is estimated to cause almost half a million annual deaths.

Researchers at UWE Bristol’s Centre for Research in Biosciences have been developing methods of treating biologically contaminated water using biofiltration. In their recently published study ‘The control of waterborne pathogenic bacteria in freshwater using a biologically active filter’, researchers Joshua Steven, Robin Thorn, Gareth Robinson, Dann Turner, and Darren Reynolds, alongside Jack Lee of Origin Aqua Technologies, set out to investigate the control of three species of bacteria commonly associated with biologically contaminated water.

UWE academics identified an unmet need for low-energy, sustainable solutions for the provision of potable water in communities with limited infrastructure. This study aimed to see if biofiltration was a viable option for treating water, as it is cheaper and less energy-intensive than techniques like chlorination and ozonation. Biofiltration is a technique which involves using bacteria to break down and consume unwanted contaminants, utilising microbial biofilms in filter columns. Biofilms are self-supporting communities of microorganisms, established on granular filter media such as sand or ceramic – so, biofiltration essentially uses bacteria to control bacteria.

This study’s outcomes were promising: biofilter water systems showed a significant reduction in the presence of harmful pathogens. If scaled up, this pathogen-management technique has the potential to be used to treat stores of harvested rainwater, ground, and surface waters, preventing the regrowth of bacteria such as E. coli after water treatment. Other practical applications include using biofilters to reduce the biological burden of final sewage discharges, and potentially improving the water quality of inland bathing waters or drinking water supplies.

The full study can be found online in the journal npj Clean Water.

Rivers are Drying Up All Over the World: what can we do about it?

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Image caption: Map 1:  Water level situation of rivers and streams in part of southwestern England (riverlevels.uk)

By Chad Staddon, Sun Shun and Stevie Miller

As of mid-2022, water levels across the world are lowering due to a long-term drying/heating trend.  Rivers in parts of the UK are rapidly approaching low levels not seen since the historic 1976 drought, when the country saw temperatures exceeding 32°C for fifteen days with the nation’s highest ever recorded temperature reaching 35.9°C in Cheltenham. But now, the Met Office has issued its first Red Warning for heat, indicating a danger to life – but it’s not just the intensity of this heatwave that’s raising alarms. The frequency of heatwaves like this across the world speaks to the influence of human activity on global climates; record after record is being broken as years go by and climate change’s results become more apparent.

The impact of new peak temperatures is not just a family trip to the beach or day without rail travel. The worldwide repercussions of rising temperatures can be seen in examples such as Lake Mead, the almost-dry reservoir behind the iconic Hoover Dam in the US southwest, which is perhaps 100 days from being too low to produce hydroelectricity. Historic low flows in many parts of Australia are contributing to ever worsening fire seasons, a troubling pattern also seen as wildfires rage in parts of France, Spain and Portugal.

Here in the southwest of England we are experiencing an intensifying drought trend. The recent heat – as lovely as some summer warmth has been – has been problematic beyond just an uncomfortable lack of air-conditioning. Map 1 seems to show that whilst many stream flows are significantly below baseline averages (red or yellow dots), many seem to be doing okay (green symbols). But a closer look reveals a more complex picture.

Covering only the area around Bristol and Bath, Map 2 shows that even “green” stream flows tend to be only at or near normal levels for this time of year.  Few streams are experiencing rising flows over any time horizon.  Rather than being truly “healthy waters”, our rivers and streams are under a variety of threats that are combining to reduce average flows, impacting flora and fauna and human communities.  

That’s not all: surface stream flows are only part of the story of our drying environment. During June groundwater levels receded in all aquifers – generally either just reaching normal levels or sinking below (with some notably low levels) – reflecting the prolonged period of below average rainfall and increasing soil moisture deficits.  Similarly, reservoir levels fell, and although some increased relative to average (e.g., in western Scotland and Northern Ireland), others in the midlands (Derwent Valley), southwest (Colliford and Wimbleball), and Wales (Brianne and Elan Valley) were significantly lower than average.  Our reservoirs are not yet as dangerously low as Lake Mead, but they are low enough that we may soon have mandatory water restrictions in some areas.

So, what can we do about the parlous state of our water resources? Certainly we must not give in to the temptation to believe that somehow the winter rains will save us, or that if recent years have been drier than average then surely coming years will be wetter and it will all come good. This is “magical thinking” and divorced from what the science of climate change is telling us. The longer-term climate trends suggest that our rains will be ever more unpredictable across the year and because surface and groundwater storage is limited, even periods of heavier than average rain may not help improve our water balance. We must also not sell ourselves the notion that new technologies, such as desalination or wastewater recycling, will save the day.  Both are wonderful technologies, but they require considerable energy and capital inputs as well as producing waste outputs (e.g., brine) that are difficult to sustainably manage.

Really, it is to ourselves that we need to look for solutions to a deteriorating water supply-demand balance. It is said that the “average” water user in the UK uses 140-160 litres per person per day, though our research suggests that the actual range of water use is from approximately 100 to 250 litres per day. By better understanding who is using what volumes of water, for what reasons and under what conditions, it is possible to design demand-reduction policies that are effective and fit for purpose. This is where the future of water management needs to be. This is how we will save our dwindling water sources.

Source: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2022) Hydrological Summary for the United Kingdom, June 2022

How to measure water security?

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

Photo: Figure 1. Haitians queue for water in Carrefour-Feuilles Slum. The experiential scale-based metrics attempt to capture other sides of water (in)security, such as the burden associated with queuing for water. Photo by United Nations Photo

This blog is a summary of a published open access article: Octavianti and Staddon (2021). A review of 80 assessment tools measuring water security. WIREs Water. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1516

Adapted by Dr Thanti Octavianti

There are many definitions of water security. It could simply refer to water for domestic use, such as for drinking and cooking, or it could mean water in every aspect of life, including water for the environment, water for economic development and water associated with hazards, such as floods and droughts.

These diverse conceptions also lead to different methods to measure water security. Chad Staddon and I systematically reviewed 107 publications proposing methods and tools to measure water security, and we found:

  1. There are two dominant research clusters in the field:
    • metrics that are based on the physical availability of water with measurement ranging from municipal to global scale and usually expressed in a volumetric unit. We group them as “resource-based metrics”.
    • metrics that are based on people’s experiences with water, usually measured at individual or household level and asking, for example, if one has worried about water or if one has had to change their plans because of their water situations. We group them as “experiential scale-based metrics”.

The former cluster is bigger compared with the latter, which is emerging.

  1. Both clusters are quite distinct in their characteristics. For example, resource-based metrics were mostly formulated by natural scientists and engineers. Domains of measurement vary from metrics solely focusing on freshwater resources to some with a very broad focus (to include water-related disasters, biodiversity, among others).

On the contrary, most experiential scale-based metrics have strong social science elements in them. Water supply and hygiene and their relations to well-being are the main domains being measured.

By understanding the landscape, we argue that the more local the level of measurement and the more specific water domains included, the more meaningful and actionable recommendations would be.

Finally, measuring water security is a resource-intensive process. Selecting which approach to use will be based on the purpose of the investigation and scholarly interests, and we hope this paper would be able to help researchers and practitioners make some informed choices when developing or using a water security metric.

Short bio:

Dr Thanti Octavianti is a Lecturer in Applied Geography, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, UWE Bristol. She is a social scientist with research interest in water security measurement and urban flood resilience.

Safe Water and Antimicrobial Solutions for Resource Constrained Healthcare Facilities

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

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

Author Anna Jones | Posted on

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.

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