Portable spectrofluourimeter technology can help environmental organisations to locate problems and act on them at the time they occur, not five days later
A partnership between the University of Birmingham and scientific instrumentation company STS is pioneering new technologies that will slash the time taken to detect and react to water pollution.
A team from the university is involved in researching the use of fluorescence to detect organic water pollutants - reducing the time it takes to analyse water quality from five days to less than a minute.
The research results will be used in a portable field device being developed by STS to help environmental organisations and businesses quickly identify the source and extent of any water pollution.
The rapid turnaround of results will allow them to act on the problem at the time it occurs rather than many days later.
The research project at the University of Birmingham is being delivered through Vin Technology Services, a business gateway to the university's wide range of technology and expertise.
Andrew Baker from Vin Technology Services said: "Using the fluorescence of materials for analysis is well established in other industries such as pharmaceuticals and other biosciences, but is not widely used for environmental analysis.
"For a project like this, the university offers a combination of cutting edge analysis technology and the necessary research expertise.
"It is a particularly exciting project because we are confident it will lead directly to manufacturing success".
David Ward, managing director of STS, said the research from the university was critical to the development process.
He explained: "What we have at the moment is a portable spectrofluourimeter which has been designed for a wide range of applications.
"The work that Vin is doing is to analyse the exact nature of the organic contaminants you find in typical water pollution incidents.
"Once we have done that research we can produce a specialist machine for this application which will do the job at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the price.
"The potential benefits are enormous.
"This technology can help environmental organisations to locate problems and act on them at the time they occur, not five days later.
"It can also help potential polluters to keep their own houses in order and act on problems before they cause real damage".
This project is one of a wide range of commercial projects being undertaken by Vin Technology Services.
With support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Advantage West Midlands, Vin provides access to advanced technology and analysis expertise to eligible small and medium sized (SMEs) businesses across the West Midlands.
