Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

The concept of a 'real time' pathogen detection and quantification holds tremendous value from a water qualityx000D
and human health perspective. This is essential not only from a drinking water perspective, but also from ax000D
wastewater effluent discharge. For example, such an approach could inform public beach/recreational waterx000D
access, stormwater runoff discharge, sewer overflow quality or polishing pond performance to name a few.x000D
TECTA-PDS developed the world's first automated, EPA-approved microbiological water quality testingx000D
system, making it easier, faster and less expensive to do on-site water testing for E. coli bacteria. To date, thisx000D
technology has primarily been focused on determining drinking water portability via presence-absence tests forx000D
Escherichia coli (E. coli), total coliforms and Enterococcus. The existing technology is limited to binary resultsx000D
for wastewater applications, however TECTA-PDS equipment can provide quantifying values. This projectx000D
aims to broaden bacterial quantifiability on a range of bacteria specific to wastewater quality. This will bex000D
accomplised by (1) determining whether TECTA is a viable method of quantifying bacteria composition inx000D
wastewater from different sources; (2) assessing whether existing calibrations (for E. coli, total coliforms andx000D
Enterococcus) in drinking water are suitable for wastewater; and (3) establishing appropriate wastewater testingx000D
protocols and TECTA parameters via custom calibrations. In the short term, tthe project will train one MAScx000D
and two undergraduate HQP over a 6-month period. Positive results will enable subsequent collaborations, on ax000D
longer term basis, involving bench-scale, then pilot-scale testing in collaboration with TECTA-PDS at thex000D
Beaty Water Research Centre at Queen's University. The capacity for rapid monitoring of bacterial wastewaterx000D
parameters for small, rural and remote communities could assist these communities to achieve their regulatoryx000D
effluent discharge requirements at a low cost. This in turn is expected to improve protection for Canadianx000D
watersheds which are currently being impacted by wastewater discharge in exceedance of regulatoryx000D
requirements.