How Luxembourg detects microbes in its water supply before they pose a health riskMicrobes in water are like invisible travellers – and some c...

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How Luxembourg detects microbes in its water supply before they pose a health riskMicrobes in water are like invisible travellers – and some c...
How Luxembourg detects microbes in its water supply before they pose a health risk
Microbes in water are like invisible travellers – and some carry disease with them. Keeping the water that flows through our treatment plants, rivers and taps healthy and safe from microbial infection is a challenge.

The distribution of microbes varies considerably across time and space. This makes them difficult to track through conventional monitoring programmes which rely on infrequent sampling (monthly or weekly at best) at fixed locations.

When contamination occurs, it can be very episodic (for just a few hours, say) and microbial concentrations can be extremely low. Without advanced and highly sensitive detection methods, some microbes will remain undetected.

Continuous monitoring is the best way to detect epidemics before they explode, identify contaminations before they spread, and proactively protect public health. In the small country of Luxembourg, we have been trialling new online monitoring initiatives such as Microbs and Cyanowatch to achieve this at a national level.

Luxembourg acts as a “living laboratory” where, by collaborating directly with local authorities, our team at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (List) is developing ways to prevent swimmers’ exposure to toxic bacteria, for example, or to protect people during viral outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Water flows from natural sources through streams and rivers to treatment plants, then through distribution networks to our homes, and finally to wastewater treatment – before returning back into the environment. At each step, our dedicated observatories, equipped with multiple sampling and measurement instruments, continuously collect samples and monitor microbial water quality.

Attached link

https://theconversation.com/how-luxembourg-detects-microbes-in-its-water-supply-before-they-pose-a-health-risk-258018

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