AQUATEST project

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AQUATEST project

• Stephen Gundry
• Water and Environmental Management Research
  Centre
• University of Bristol

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Community water supply
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looks murkywhat about quality?
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but tastes good
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Millennium Development Goals

• Water Target
• Reduce by half the proportion of people without
  sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015

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MDG 7 progress report

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MDG 7 progress report

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MDG 7 - Definitions

• Access to safe drinking water is estimated by the
  percentage of the population using improved
  drinking water sources
• Household connection
• Public standpipe
• Borehole
• Protected dug well
• Protected spring
• Rainwater collection

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AQUATEST

• Preparatory study to establish
• needs
• technological feasibility
• funding requirements
• 12 months analysis (18 month contract)
• Mid-2007 full RD proposal
• Funding Euro 446,000 by European Union under
  FP6Global change and Ecosystems
• 13 participants (Europe 6 USA 3 Africa 3 and
  WHO)

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Participants

• Europe
• UK University of Bristol (Coordinator),
  University of Southampton and University of
  Surrey
• Eire Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
• France Chemunex SA
• Developing countries
• South Africa University of Cape Town and CSIR
  Environmentek
• Zimbabwe Institute of Water Sanitation
  Development
• Third countries and international organisations
• USA University of North Carolina, AQUAYA
  Institute and MIT
• World Health Organization
• Oxfam

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University of Bristol

• WEMRC / Engineering Management
• Stephen Gundry
• Chemistry
• Prof Tony Davis
• FRPERC
• Steve James
• Policy Studies
• Prof Dave Gordon
• Computer Science
• Walterio Mayol-Cuevas

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What is it for?

• Monitoring
• Risk assessment and response
• Measuring MDG progress
• Ad-hoc surveys (inc disasters)
• People power !
• Communities take responsibility
• Households react better HWTS
• Hygiene educational benefit

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What is currently available?

• Static laboratories
• Expensive equipment, consumables and high calibre
  staff
• Long chain to get samples from field
• Field labs / portable labs
• Much cheaper, but also trained staff
• Disposable tests
• Presence/absence by H2S
• Others expensive

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What do we want to provide?

• Low cost
• Target price USD 0.10 per test
• Low skill
• Zero training e.g. home pregnancy test
• Better than P/A
• Not full enumeration of E. coli
• Bands of water quality traffic light
• Links
• Water Safety Plans
• Risk monitoring systems not compliance

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Who will use it?

• Professionals
• Environmental health officers
• WS commissioning engineers
• Survey technicians (disasters)
• Water consumers
• Non-specialist staff (e.g. clinic nurse)
• Community leaders
• Householders

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When?

• Mid-2007 Preparatory study complete
• End-2007 Full RD funding
• End-2008 Complete prototype design and lab
  tests
• 2009 Beta test in field
• End 2009 Evaluation and design modifications
• 2010 Limited product availability
• 2011 Full product availability and local
  manufacturing support

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www.aquatest-research.org

• Website now online
• Not-for-profit organisation, BUT
• Follow on water diagnostic products, which may
  have commercial applications
• Advanced technology version
• Other contaminant testing
• Biodiversity index

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The Lancet 2006 3681212

• Editorial
• It is dangerously short sighted to pour immense
  time and resources into vaccinating children only
  for them to die a few years later from diarrhoeal
  illnesses.