- Email: [email protected]
New technique for checking drinking water quality
Technology news Filtration+Separation May/June 2013
Hydro introduces StormTrain for surface water treatment
New technique for checking drinking water quality Biotech specialist Partec has released analytical instruments which use a novel method to determine bacterial counts in drinking water. Partec says that the method is rapid and reliable and has been recommended by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.
The Hydro Filterra™ bioretention system.
Hydro International has launched The Hydro StormTrain™ Series, a range of surface water treatment devices, in anticipation of the growing need to remove silts, sediments and other pollutants from stormwater runoff. Through The Hydro StormTrain™ Series, Hydro is providing a range of performanceverified and internationallyrecognised technologies for surface water treatment to meet current and expected water quality regulations in the UK. Defense®,
Four products, First Downstream Defender®, The Up-Flo™ Filter and Hydro Filterra™, are Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) that can be used independently or in combination to deliver a Treatment Train that meets the water quality stipulations of a site. They can also be used to protect, enhance or enable natural SuDS features. The expectations of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) are influencing the development of surface water quality regulations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as driving the implementation of established regulations in Scotland. In
every case, Hydro’s treatment devices offer future-proof SuDScompliance. In England and Wales, SuDS will be compulsory for new developments of more than one property from April 2014. New Local Authority SuDS Approving Bodies (SABS) will assess drainage schemes according to new National Standards that are likely to include expectations for water quality and pollutant removal. The First Defense® is an economical vortex separator that removes coarse particles, litter and oil from surface water runoff. Downstream Defender® is an advanced hydrodynamic vortex separator that removes fine particles along with oils and other floatable debris from surface water runoff. The Up-Flo™ Filter combines sedimentation and screening with fluidised bed filtration technology to deliver a high-performance multi-stage treatment train within a single device. The Hydro Filterra™ bioretention system combines the natural treatment action of an ecosystem with speciallyengineered filtration soils in an easy-to-fit concrete unit. www.hydro-int.com/stormtrain
The technique for determining micro-organism counts is helping to ensure the safety of drinking water. Using specially developed analytical instruments from German biotech company Partec, it is now possible to determine the microbiological status of drinking water rapidly. The procedure can be carried out at water companies, in distribution networks and at end consumers. Mobile testing is also possible. The technique, called ‘Determination of total cell count and the quantitative relationship between cells with low and high nucleic acid content in fresh water by means of flow cytometry’, is quick, reliable and cost-effective. It enables bacterial contamination in drinking water to be characterised in less than 15 minutes and has been added to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health’s Food Codex as a recommended technique. In addition to time-consuming conventional routine checks, water companies and cantonal and state analytical laboratories now have access to an innovative
technique able to be used as an early warning parameter or for on-going monitoring. A pilot system for online microbial monitoring has already been implemented at a waterworks operated by the City of Zürich. The driving force behind the new development is the Environmental Microbiology Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), located in the town of Dübendorf. After several years of collaboration, researchers from Eawag and Partec have succeeded in using flow cytometry, a technique previously used predominantly for cellular analysis for medical applications, to determine drinking water quality. The technique involves marking individual bacterial cells with a fluorescent marker and using fluorescence detection to count and characterise them in a laser beam. A stand-out feature of the technique is its ability to count large numbers of bacteria in just a few seconds. The new method dispenses entirely with the need for time-consuming bacterial cultivation in Petri dishes. By analysing samples in an automated unit (for example, the CyFlow flow cytometer from Partec), it is possible to process more than 50 separate water samples per hour. www.partec.com
IDA selects San Diego The International Desalination Association (IDA) has selected San Diego, California, USA as the site for its 2015 World Congress. The dates for the World Congress are August 29-September 4, 2015 and the event will be held at the San Diego Convention
Center. This will be the first time since 1999 that the IDA World Congress will take place in North America. The 2013 IDA World Congress takes place October 20-25 in Tianjin, China. www.idadesal.org
19
Hydro introduces StormTrain for surface water treatment
New technique for checking drinking water quality Biotech specialist Partec has released analytical instruments which use a novel method to determine bacterial counts in drinking water. Partec says that the method is rapid and reliable and has been recommended by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.
The Hydro Filterra™ bioretention system.
Hydro International has launched The Hydro StormTrain™ Series, a range of surface water treatment devices, in anticipation of the growing need to remove silts, sediments and other pollutants from stormwater runoff. Through The Hydro StormTrain™ Series, Hydro is providing a range of performanceverified and internationallyrecognised technologies for surface water treatment to meet current and expected water quality regulations in the UK. Defense®,
Four products, First Downstream Defender®, The Up-Flo™ Filter and Hydro Filterra™, are Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) that can be used independently or in combination to deliver a Treatment Train that meets the water quality stipulations of a site. They can also be used to protect, enhance or enable natural SuDS features. The expectations of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) are influencing the development of surface water quality regulations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as driving the implementation of established regulations in Scotland. In
every case, Hydro’s treatment devices offer future-proof SuDScompliance. In England and Wales, SuDS will be compulsory for new developments of more than one property from April 2014. New Local Authority SuDS Approving Bodies (SABS) will assess drainage schemes according to new National Standards that are likely to include expectations for water quality and pollutant removal. The First Defense® is an economical vortex separator that removes coarse particles, litter and oil from surface water runoff. Downstream Defender® is an advanced hydrodynamic vortex separator that removes fine particles along with oils and other floatable debris from surface water runoff. The Up-Flo™ Filter combines sedimentation and screening with fluidised bed filtration technology to deliver a high-performance multi-stage treatment train within a single device. The Hydro Filterra™ bioretention system combines the natural treatment action of an ecosystem with speciallyengineered filtration soils in an easy-to-fit concrete unit. www.hydro-int.com/stormtrain
The technique for determining micro-organism counts is helping to ensure the safety of drinking water. Using specially developed analytical instruments from German biotech company Partec, it is now possible to determine the microbiological status of drinking water rapidly. The procedure can be carried out at water companies, in distribution networks and at end consumers. Mobile testing is also possible. The technique, called ‘Determination of total cell count and the quantitative relationship between cells with low and high nucleic acid content in fresh water by means of flow cytometry’, is quick, reliable and cost-effective. It enables bacterial contamination in drinking water to be characterised in less than 15 minutes and has been added to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health’s Food Codex as a recommended technique. In addition to time-consuming conventional routine checks, water companies and cantonal and state analytical laboratories now have access to an innovative
technique able to be used as an early warning parameter or for on-going monitoring. A pilot system for online microbial monitoring has already been implemented at a waterworks operated by the City of Zürich. The driving force behind the new development is the Environmental Microbiology Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), located in the town of Dübendorf. After several years of collaboration, researchers from Eawag and Partec have succeeded in using flow cytometry, a technique previously used predominantly for cellular analysis for medical applications, to determine drinking water quality. The technique involves marking individual bacterial cells with a fluorescent marker and using fluorescence detection to count and characterise them in a laser beam. A stand-out feature of the technique is its ability to count large numbers of bacteria in just a few seconds. The new method dispenses entirely with the need for time-consuming bacterial cultivation in Petri dishes. By analysing samples in an automated unit (for example, the CyFlow flow cytometer from Partec), it is possible to process more than 50 separate water samples per hour. www.partec.com
IDA selects San Diego The International Desalination Association (IDA) has selected San Diego, California, USA as the site for its 2015 World Congress. The dates for the World Congress are August 29-September 4, 2015 and the event will be held at the San Diego Convention
Center. This will be the first time since 1999 that the IDA World Congress will take place in North America. The 2013 IDA World Congress takes place October 20-25 in Tianjin, China. www.idadesal.org
19