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High-tech for clean water

ICC co-founder Prof. Andreas Farnleitner now heads the "Quality and Hygiene" section of the Austrian Water and Waste Management Association (ÖWAV).


ICC director Prof. Andreas Farnleitner © Zsolt Marton

Auhtor: Florian Aigner

It was a scientific revolution: almost 150 years ago, the German physician Robert Koch succeeded in detecting and cultivating the anthrax pathogens. It was the birth of bacteriology. The basic idea of this method is still used all over the world today: A sample in which bacteria are suspected is placed in a petri dish with nutrient solution. If the sample actually contains bacteria, they multiply until a colony is formed - a cluster of cells that can be seen with the naked eye.

"However, this detection method is by no means suitable for all areas of application," says Prof. Andreas Farnleitner. He heads the "Water and Health" research centre and the "Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics" research group at the TU Wien and has now also been head of the "Quality and Hygiene" section of the Austrian Water and Waste Management Association since the beginning of 2020.

 

Genetic test instead of petri dish

 

"Many pathogens cannot be propagated in a nutrient solution," explains Farnleitner. "This is not possible with viruses; they always need a host cell to multiply. However, some intestinal bacteria, which play an important role in water hygiene, also need very specific conditions to multiply.

For this reason, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique is often used today. This involves artificially duplicating certain sections of the genetic information and then detecting them. "Originally, the technique was mainly used in medicine, but in the meantime this method has also become indispensable in environmental analysis," said Andreas Farnleitner.

At the TU Wien methods have been developed in recent years to reliably and quickly detect microbiological contamination in water. These specific DNA analyses also make it possible to identify the cause of a contamination - for example, whether it originates from humans or from animals in the pasture. "Such measurements are important for optimally monitoring the quality management of drinking water resources. But it can also be important for irrigation in agriculture to manage the catchment area optimally. There are different regulations depending on the intended use. It makes a difference whether you irrigate vegetables that are eaten raw or whether they are root vegetables that have to be cooked anyway."

 

Water quality controlled online

 

Andreas Farnleitner believes that the next major step in water hygiene technology will be digitalisation. "Taking samples in different bodies of water and then evaluating them in the laboratory is very time-consuming - even if you have state-of-the-art PCR methods available," he explains. "Together with cooperation and company partners, we are working on automating such measurements."

It would be possible to place devices at important points of water resources which would automatically carry out microbiological or biochemical measurements again and again, sound the alarm if necessary and independently take samples for reference measurements in the laboratory at critical times.

 

ÖWAV

 

The Austrian Water and Waste Management Association (ÖWAV) is a non-profit association representing the entire water and waste management sector in Austria. It advises industry and politics on scientific issues, organises further training courses, draws up its own regulations and has been committed to environmental safety and sustainability since its foundation in 1909. It is divided into several specialist groups. The section "Quality and Hygiene", which is now headed by Prof. Andreas Farnleitner, is responsible for numerous working committees dealing with topics ranging from chemical analysis, microbiological diagnostics, occupational health guidelines for sewage systems to quality recommendations for water in irrigation systems.

 

More about ÖWAV

 

www.oewav.at

 



The ICC Water & Health
is a Cooporation of:

Technische Universität Wien
Medizinische Universität Wien
Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften