A pilot plant on the University of Bath campus is said to be able to recycle up to 60% of plastic lab waste, to make back into new lab consumables.

The start-up firm behind it, LabCycle, hopes the technology could be scaled up in the future to recycle waste from healthcare, research and commercial labs that is currently incinerated or sent to landfill.

To avoid cross-contamination between experiments, most lab-based scientists use a significant amount of single-use plastic in their daily research, including pipette tips, test tubes, petri dishes and multi-well plates. Currently, less than 1% of this waste is being recycled.

LabCycle, co-founded by former University of Bath PhD student Dr Helen Liang, aims to recycle up to 60% of this waste, turning it into high grade plastic pellets which can be used to make new tubes and petri dishes.

After decontamination, the plastic is turned into high grade pellets the size of rice grains, which are sent to LabCycle’s manufacturing partner to turn into new lab equipment.

Their unique recycling process doesn’t require waste to be autoclaved (sterilised) beforehand meaning that less heat energy is needed. Water usage is also minimised through recycling, further reducing the environmental impact.

Their recent collaboration with the University of Bath’s Innovation Centre for Applied Sustainable Technologies (iCAST) has tested the properties of recycled polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and shown that the polymers are suitable to go full circle and be used to make new lab consumables.

Dr Liang said: “Adopting a circular economy approach involves optimising laboratory practices to minimise waste generation and resource consumption.

“Research and healthcare workers can focus on reducing and reusing single-use plastic items when possible.

“Additionally, proper waste segregation should be emphasised to enable recycling. Encouragingly, more than 90% of our survey participants from the research and healthcare sectors have indicated strong motivation on single-use plastic waste recycling.”

Dr Liang, who obtained a PhD in Sustainable & Circular Technologies from the university in 2022, met her fellow co-founders and came up with the idea for the company at a SETsquared workshop in 2019.

Since then, LabCycle has secured funds of around £430k to develop the technology and start the commercialisation process.

Following a successful pilot project recycling single-use plastic waste from three labs at the university in 2022, the team is working to roll out the service commercially.

With support from the Faculty of Science, iCAST and Campus Infrastructure team at the university, LabCycle has set up a pilot recycling plant in a converted greenhouse on campus and plans to implement waste recycling for its science and engineering labs.

They are also working with the local NHS Blood and Transplant to recycle waste from their laboratories.

Dr Liang said: “We’re very excited to open our new pilot facility and realise our vision of creating a circular economy for plastic consumables in the research and healthcare sectors. We are sincerely grateful for the support from the University of Bath.”

Dr Fabienne Pradaux-Caggiano, Technical Supervisor in the University’s Department of Chemistry said: “The idea that we are now able to recycle the single-use plastic from our research labs onsite is really exciting and will be our small but significant way to have an impact on climate change without compromising our research.

“Dr Liang has been a delight to work with and we fully supported her in her endeavour from the very start. She has proven her concept is strong and very valuable for the environment.

“I can’t wait to see Labcycle expand and thrive both within the University and on a wider scale!”

SciMed, a UK distributor of lab equipment, gives a brief rundown of what’s required.

There are a number of AOX/TOX regulations in force, for example, DIN ISO 9652, EPA 1650 for AOX in water and wastewater, and EPA 9020B for TOX in wastewater.

AOX compounds resist breaking down in the environment, and have long half-life periods. Some of these molecules are toxic and can pose a threat to aquatic organisms living in estuaries because they can bioaccumulate in the food chain. Hence, AOX can be important in effluent quality monitoring from both landfill leachates, and industry, in order to meet discharge limits.

Measurement approaches tend to involve the AOX compounds being adsorbed onto activated charcoal under certain conditions. Once the sample has been acidified, you can collect the AOX onto the charcoal, combust the charcoal and measure the AOX using microcoulometric titration.

In England, the Environmental Agency has followed the lead of European authorities in making AOX testing mandatory. Although the legislation isn’t yet being rigidly enforced, by summer 2024 all water and wastewater companies seeking to dispose of effluent must demonstrate that they’ve followed the testing protocols.

The testing protocols for AOX
These cover adsorbable organic halogens, and chlorine is the most concerning, and the one with which this testing regime is most preoccupied.

The first step is sample preparation: solid or liquid samples are transformed into an analysis-ready state. Some analytical instruments are limited to either horizontal or vertical sample delivery, meaning only solid or liquid samples respectively are compatible; solid samples require horizontal delivery.

To prepare pulp, sludge, sediment or wastewater for AOX analysis, it is acidified, mixed with a nitrate-containing solution and passed through activated carbon columns at a set speed. This prompts the chloride, bromide and iodide ions to adsorb to the surface of the carbon. The carbon is then combusted to release the halogens which are then quantified using microcoulometric titration.

Although the dangers of environmental contamination with AOX are clear, the legislation that requires waste companies to test responsibly has been slow to come into effect. Meanwhile, the technical groundwork has been undertaken to ensure this is now a relatively simple process.

Features relevant to selecting instruments
Autosamplers reduce expenditure on technical staff. SciMed offers samplers for both liquid and solid samples.

Duplex and triplex columns allow heavier and dirtier samples to be analysed. “Flexible sample delivery” means both solid and liquid samples can be analysed using the same equipment. The Multi X2500 Analyser from Analytik Jena, for example, is a product that offers all these features.

More details about AOX analysis are available at this page on the SciMed website.

Petroleum hydrocarbons in soil continues to be an area of interest for scientists as they are the most common contaminants that are toxic to human and environmental receptors. These contaminants include various molecules that are grouped into aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Generally, initial field-based soil analysis is non-specific and, while useful, the results are normally supplemented with those of more accurate and precise lab-based techniques. Here Paul Vanden Branden, director and product manager at laboratory equipment supplier SciMed, discusses the performance of field-based non-dispersive infra-red spectroscopy (NDIRS) technology for petroleum hydrocarbon determination compared to traditional lab-based methods.

Typically, the analysis of oil-contaminated soils during site investigation and remediation involves a range of non-specific field-based screening techniques and specific lab-based fingerprint techniques completed off-site by commercial laboratories using certified analytical methods.

Typical non-specific field-based techniques include NDIRS, portable gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), ultra-violet fluorescence spectroscopy (UVFS), visible-near infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and photo-ionisation detection (PID). These are used to screen total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), quantify aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons during site investigation, identify potential hydrocarbon concentration hotspots and compare TPH concentrations in the environmental.

Generally, the lab-based fingerprint techniques used are either GC-MS or high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). These provide in-depth data into aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon speciation, qualitative and quantitative hydrocarbon degradation due to weathering or engineered remediation, and have high sensitivity and accuracy for risk indicator compounds, which is required to meet regulatory requirements.

While the lab-based fingerprint techniques offer high accuracy and precision, the procedures involved are often time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, they are not seen as cost-effective methods for decision making needed during site investigation, remediation monitoring and validation.

Over the past decade, various field-based analytical technologies have been developed, expediting hydrocarbon determination on site and increasing the number of soil samples that can be analysed at lower cost. However, more data is needed before these can be widely adopted, such as their performance and accuracy for different soil types, different levels of contamination and different fuel types. Furthermore, comparison of their ability to quantify different hydrocarbon groups for risk assessment purposes and evaluation of whether they can offer a good alternative to lab-based technologies for remediation monitoring and validation is still limited.

Field-based NDIRS
In analytical chemistry, extraction procedures aim to separate the analyte quickly, quantitatively and using as little solvent as possible. A recent report by Concawe outlined how solvent-based extraction field technologies, including NDIRS, performed well for the detection and quantification of TPH between 100 and 10,000 mg kg-1, independent of soil type and fuel type. The NDIRS instrument used in Concawe’s study was the Infracal 2 ATR-SP TPH analyser, which can perform TPH determination of hydrocarbons in five to ten minutes, significantly faster than lab-based GC-MS.

For the experiments covered in Concawe’s report, scientists used a hexane extraction method, adding 1% v/w to soil samples and shaking them for two minutes. This extract was cleaned using activated silica gel and Whatman no. 40 filter paper. For level three spiked soils, the extracts were further diluted five times in accordance with the Infracal 2’s detection range. Before each measurement, the attenuated total reflectance (ATR) crystal was cleaned with 99.9% isopropanol and zeroed every hour. To measure a sample, 60 μL was deposited into the ATR crystal, and the solvent was given time to evaporate before the measurement was taken.

The report concluded that the NDIRS field test provides GC-MS comparable TPH recoveries and meets the performance requirements for many regulatory standards. This means scientists can use the Infracal 2, which SciMed supplies, to conduct cost-effective petroleum hydrocarbon analysis on-site, without outsourcing to commercial analytical labs.

To speak to one of SciMed’s team about how the Infracal can help you in your application, fill out an enquiry form on the company’s website.

Visit the website to register.

The conference schedule, delivered by the Science Council, includes a Professional Development Zone where delegates will be provided the opportunity to participate in an exciting programme of lectures, workshops, seminars and masterclasses, including demonstrations from sponsors Eppendorf and Corning, whilst engaging with relevant bodies including the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Biology, the Biochemical Society, and the Institute of Science and Technology. “Whether seeking career advice or asking for help to tweak a CV, the Science Council’s member bodies are on hand to support visitors in their scientific professions, with some of the schedule contributing towards CPD,” say the organisers.

The Science Council masterclasses schedule will include classes on professional development beyond the lab, skills for sustainable labs, creating an effective CV, and how to manage your continuing professional development.

As the organisers explain, the conference is complimented by an exhibition hall demonstrating products from pipettes and petri dishes to the latest in laboratory instrumentation, technology and sustainable laboratory solutions. “The exhibition hall will feature quality products and services from some of the world’s most recognisable brands in science including Eppendorf, Corning, Ohaus, Kimberly Clark, Smiths Scientific and Sartorius to name a few. Over 60 exhibitors will be showcasing the newest products and latest technological advances available to the UK laboratory market, allowing delegates to find every brand all in one place.”

The keynote speakers are detailed below.

Dr Tara Shine
Dr Tara Shine has dedicated over 20 years of her life to “the pursuit of fairness between people and the planet”. She is described as an expert in the field of climate change and climate justice with a passion for communicating her science and her positive vision for the future. She has advised world leaders, governments, multilateral agencies and civil society organisations on climate change, environmental policy and development assistance.

Tara is Co-Founder and Director of the award-winning social enterprise, Change by Degrees, which educates and inspires people at home, at work and in their community to live more sustainably. Tara’s book How to Save Your Planet One Object at a Time is a guide to sustainable living told through everyday objects.

Tara has presented TV programmes including Brave New World with Stephen Hawking in 2011, the BBC’s Expedition Borneo and her discovery of Nile Crocodiles in West Africa was the subject of an acclaimed BBC 2 Natural World Documentary, Lost Crocodiles of the Pharaohs.

Professor Richard Wiseman
Professor Richard Wiseman has been described by a Scientific American columnist as “one of the most interesting and innovative experimental psychologists in the world today” with his books having sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Richard holds Britain’s only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, is one of the most followed psychologists on Twitter, and the Independent On Sunday chose him as one of the top 100 people who make Britain a better place to live.

Richard is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle, a Director of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has created psychology-based YouTube videos that have attracted over 500 million views. Richard will be giving a talk on ‘The Psychology of Luck’. Why do some people lead happy successful lives whilst others face repeated failure? Why are some people always in the right place at the right time, while others are always unlucky? Find out how ‘The Luck Factor’ can change everything for individuals and organisations.

Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff
Sir Martyn Poliakoff is an iconic figure in the world of chemistry – perhaps most recognisable from his role in the YouTube phenomenon The Periodic Table of Videos, a set of YouTube videos describing every single element in turn.

Sir Martyn is a global leader in the field of green chemistry with a specific interest in the applications of supercritical fluids. These highly compressed gases possess properties of gases and liquids that permit interesting chemical reactions without the need for organic solvents, which endanger both health and the environment. He is a Research Professor in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, where he started as a Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry in 1979.

The schedule of Keynote speakers will be hosted by Adam Donnan, CEO at the Institution of Environmental Sciences.

“It’s not all work!”
The show also promises a good dose of fun-filled activities alongside the exhibition and conference schedule. Firstly, all attendees will be entered into a prize draw to win £250 in Amazon vouchers. Delegates can take a break on the virtual reality games taking place across the exhibition hall with many more opportunities to inject a healthy dose of fun into the working day. In addition to a free hot lunch and refreshments, delegates can look forward to sampling the delights of liquid nitrogen ice cream and edible volcano bubbles that you catch in your mouth.

As the organisers put it: “With so much on offer, the Scientific Laboratory Show and Conference has something for everyone. This year’s event promises to be even bigger and better, making it a must-attend event for science professionals. Meet and mingle with fellow scientists, learn new things from inspiring speakers and hands-on demonstrations whilst discovering the latest products and consumables for the laboratory. A day inspired by scientists, for scientists – it’s an event not to be missed.”

To register for the Show or watch a video about what the day is all about, visit the website.

Until the 1950s orchards were heavily fortified with lead arsenate-based pesticides to keep the bugs at bay – chemicals that were eventually banned because of their potential for harm.

And even though it has been more than half a century since the last lead arsenate pesticide was used to dowse Connecticut fruit trees, those poisons are not going away anytime soon.

Many of those orchards have long since been converted into residential or commercial property, but new research from UConn and Eastern Connecticut State University finds a strong correlation between arsenic contamination and proximity to those historic orchards — the closer the well to those locations, the greater the likelihood of finding arsenic. Their research was published in December in The Journal of Environmental Quality.

Gary Robbins, UConn professor of geosciences and natural resources, explains the project started with a request from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in 2013. Robbins and his research group to trace the source of contaminants.

Robbins, working with another researcher Meredith Metcalf says they were asked to survey wells for arsenic in eastern Connecticut starting in Lebanon. Metcalf collected water samples from hundreds of homes around the eastern half of the state.

“After sampling, we looked at the distribution and possible sources of arsenic that caused the groundwater contamination, because a significant percentage of wells were contaminated and many of those were above the EPA drinking water standard,” Robbins says. “The issue that came up is, Where is this all coming from?”

Robbins says initially, it was suspected that arsenic-rich geologic formations could be the culprits. A closer look at the distribution of the wells yielded no obvious answers either.

Then the researchers investigated historic uses of arsenic, and found that arsenic-based pesticides were widely used from the late 1800s until the 1950s, when DDT became popular. Tens of millions of pounds of arsenical pesticides were applied every year in the US, and a radio program sponsored by the FDA in the 1930s even included this jingle: “A is for Arsenate / lead if you please, / protector of apples / against archenemies.”

Although the lead arsenate pesticides fell out of favour and were banned in some states starting in the 1950s, it wasn’t until 1988 that they were prohibited throughout the US.

Another contributor, Mark Higgins, a hydrogeologist at Haley & Aldrich, found a report listing all the registered farms and agricultural lands in Connecticut in 1935, which included over 47,000 individual fruit tree orchards, including peaches, pears, and apples.

“These pesticides would be sprayed on all fruit trees to kill the pests like gypsy moths up to six times a year in some cases,” Higgins says.

Heavy application rates, coupled with the fact that lead and arsenic can travel quite slowly through the ecosystem, is a combination that makes for long-lasting remnants of the poisons, Higgins says.

As part of their research, the team collected soil cores down to three feet at the orchard sites: “We found high levels of arsenic persisting, more than one would expect for 50 to 60-plus years after these pesticides were applied. It is unlikely that they’re migrating downward into the water anymore and are probably immobile.”

This adds complexity, because despite the strong proximity correlation, the question now is to definitively determine the source of contamination. Higgins says recent studies show certain compounds like phosphate-containing fertilizers are changing environmental conditions, and can start mobilizing previously immobile contaminants in the soil.

The researchers found evidence of leachability of the contaminants in some soils. Robbins says future steps will be to look at the age of water through tritium testing, because under some conditions, like bedrock and glacial till commonly found in Connecticut, water can move through soil and rock extremely slowly, and this impacts how contaminants enter the groundwater supply. Dating that water will help determine if today’s results are the result of the application of pesticides decades ago, or the result of more recent activities.

In other areas of the state, domestic wells are both in close proximity to historic orchards and arsenic-rich geologic formations, says Higgins, and this poses additional challenges to determining the source of the contamination.

“How do we definitively say the contamination came from one or the other or both? We need these additional lines of evidence,” Higgins says. “With this paper, we have a strong dataset as far as the numbers of orchards. With additional funding and data from a larger area, I think it will be telling of whether it’s coming from the orchards or not, and how it is getting into the wells.”

Higgins says he hopes this work will help in educating the public, as “arsenic at these concentrations is not something that will make you sick tomorrow or in 10 years. But if you’re drinking this low-level arsenic for 30 years, there are likely health risks from chronic exposure to this known carcinogen.”

State guidance doesn’t list arsenic as a contaminant for which regular testing is required, but this looks likely to change.

“I think that arsenic will become part of the routine water quality testing soon enough.”

The eDNA method consists of extracting molecules of DNA present in water samples and identifying the species to which they belong by means of genetic markers.

A scientific expedition in the Javari River basin on the border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru has demonstrated the use of environmental DNA sequencing to be feasible to investigate fish diversity in the Amazon.

An article on the research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“We need to continue catching and identifying animals by traditional methods in order to create libraries of genetic material,” said Carlos David de Santana, a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in the US and first author of the article. “They will serve as a reference for comparing whatever is found in water samples. As the technique advances, in a few years we may be able to know about all the fish species present in a place without catching them.”

The study was part of the project “Diversity and evolution of Gymnotiformes”, supported by FAPESP and led by Naércio Menezes, a professor at the University of São Paulo’s Zoology Museum (MZ-USP) in Brazil. “The extraction of DNA from water samples creates expectations that bode well for protection of the environment, as the usual methods for collecting samples of aquatic animals include the use of nets and other fishing gear with a negative impact,” said Menezes, a co-author.

The group of researchers spent 18 days on the Javari River, collecting water samples at three of 46 locations where they collected fish specimens. The number of species represented reached the surprising total of 443, and 60 were new to science.

At the sites from which water for eDNA analysis was collected, 201 species were caught using traditional methods. However, only 58, or 26% of the total, were identified with precision at the species level from analysis of the eDNA.

“A possible explanation is lack of reference genetic material in databases that can be used for purposes of comparison. In addition, many species in these locations are entirely new and have never been identified before using conventional techniques,” said Gislene Torrente-Vilara, a professor at the Federal University of São Paulo’s Institute of Marine Sciences (IMAR-UNIFESP) in Santos and also a co-author of the article.

Torrente-Vilara led the expedition as part of the Amazon Fish project, an international collaboration that was supported by FAPESP and resulted in a new understanding of the distribution of fish species in the region.

DNA in 100 mm of water

To sequence the eDNA, the researchers first collected 100 -mm surface water samples at three predetermined locations. The samples were filtered and mixed with a solution to prevent degradation of the eDNA.

The 12S mitochondrial RNA gene is the marker most widely used worldwide to identify fish species from eDNA. To find this small piece of genetic code in the water samples, the researchers used DNA extraction kits designed for analysis of both blood and tissue.

Excrement and animal parts present in the water can be “captured” by the technique.

However, 12S is a slowly evolving piece of genetic code and might not be sufficient to identify all fish specimens at the species level because many species in the Amazon diverged more than once millions of years ago (recently in evolutionary terms).

For the same reason, eDNA sequencing provided a precise portrait only of the orders represented in the samples. It also differentiated the communities that live in large rivers from those that inhabit small streams deep in the forest (igarapés).

The Amazon basin is home to the highest freshwater fish diversity in the world, with more than 2,700 scientifically described species belonging to 18 orders, 60 families, and over 500 genera.

“Even with an adequate library, it would be very difficult to identify everything at the species level with just this marker,” Santana said. “Two electric eels that diverged recently, for example, Electrophorus voltai and E. electricus, could appear to be a single species” (more about electric eels at: agencia.fapesp.br/31386).

Future improvements

The researchers expect the technique to improve enough in the years ahead for more than one DNA sample to be sequenced simultaneously, so that species can be defined precisely.

Until then it will be necessary to create genetic reference libraries, and Santana plans to catalogue genetic material from at least all fish families and most fish genera in the Amazon.

In this context, the authors stress that natural history museums are ideal institutions for creating genetic reference libraries and storing environmental samples. As technologies advance, the material deposited can be sequenced with growing precision.

“Museums conserve samples of biodiversity for a very long time and make them available for study by future generations,” said Aléssio Datovo, another co-author of the article and fish curator at MZ-USP, the first institution in Brazil to collect samples of eDNA. “To keep genetic material viable for such long periods, however, they need to implement cryogenic facilities, or significantly expand the ones they have, rearranging their physical layout and acquiring massive amounts of equipment, such as ultra low temperature freezers and liquid nitrogen tanks,” The technique can also be used for environmental monitoring, and even to engage schools and riverine communities in conservation initiatives via citizen science programs.

A new suite of environmental intelligence software from IBM leverages AI to help organizations prepare for and respond to weather and climate risks that may disrupt business, more easily assess their own impact on the planet, and reduce the complexity of regulatory compliance and reporting.

Companies are facing climate-related damage to their assets, disruptions to supply chains and operations, as well as increasing expectations from consumers and investors to perform as an environmental leader. Extreme weather, climate action failure and human-led environmental damage were cited as the top three most likely risks for businesses over the next ten years in the World Economic Forum’s “Global Risks Report 2021.” Businesses need actionable environmental insights to address these challenges, but current methods are often cumbersome and complex – requiring intensive manual labor, climate and data science skills, and computing power.

The IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite announced on 12 October aims to help companies streamline and automate the management of environmental risks and operationalize underlying processes, including carbon accounting and reduction, to meet environmental goals. The suite leverages existing weather data from IBM, the overall most accurate provider globally, advanced geospatial analytics already in use by companies around the world, and new innovations from IBM Research. The offering is the first to bring together artificial intelligence, weather data, climate risk analytics, and carbon accounting capabilities in this way – allowing organizations to spend less resources curating this complex data, and more on analyzing it for insights and taking action to improve their operations.

IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite is a SaaS solution designed to help organizations:

• Monitor for disruptive environmental conditions such as severe weather, wildfires, flooding and air quality and send alerts when detected;
• Predict potential impacts of climate change and weather across the business using climate risk analytics;
• Gain insights into potential operational disruptions and prioritize mitigation and response efforts;
• Measure and report on environmental initiatives and operationalize carbon accounting, while reducing the burden of this reporting on procurement and operations teams.

The suite delivers environmental insights via APIs, dashboards, maps and alerts that can help companies address both immediate operational challenges as well as longer term planning and strategies. For instance, the suite could be used to help retailers prepare for severe weather-related shipping and inventory disruptions, or factor environmental risks into future warehouse locations; energy and utility companies to determine where to trim vegetation around power lines or which of their critical assets may soon be at greater risk from wildfires due to climate change. Or the suite could be used to help supermarkets get a clearer picture of how refrigeration systems are contributing to their overall greenhouse gas emissions and prioritize locations for improvement.

“The future of business and the environment are deeply intertwined. Not only are companies coping with the effects of extreme weather disruptions on their operations, they’re also being held increasingly accountable by shareholders and regulators for how their operations impact the planet,” said Kareem Yusuf, Ph.D., General Manager, IBM AI Applications. “IBM is bringing together the power of AI and hybrid cloud to provide businesses with environmental intelligence designed to help them improve environmental performance and reporting, create more efficient business operations to reduce resource consumption, and plan for resiliency in the face of climate disruptions.”

Companies around the world are already using many of the core weather and AI technologies found within IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite. For example, IBM environmental data and geospatial analytics are being used by Brazilian ethanol, bioelectricity and sugar company BP Bunge Bioenergia to help it better understand its agricultural sugarcane production and improve its market intelligence estimates regarding global sugar production and by agribusiness leader Cajamar to help Spanish farmers aiming to improve yields and reduce environmental impact via its digital Plataforma Tierra tool.

The IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite also takes advantage of AI-driven innovations from IBM Research that make it easier for climate and data scientists to analyze massive environmental datasets, and a new climate risk modeling framework used to generate data on future wildfire and flooding risks. Additionally, the suite will leverage unique technologies from IBM Research which apply natural language processing and automation designed to help companies estimate carbon emissions and identify opportunities to reduce them across their operations or with suppliers.

The Environmental Intelligence Suite can be integrated with IBM’s broader software portfolio for additional efficiencies across business operations – including IBM Maximo Application Suite to help companies protect and extend the lifecycle of their critical assets and IBM Supply Chain Intelligence Suite to help build more sustainable and resilient supply chains.

Businesses can also tap into the cross-industry expertise of IBM Global Business Services to help design, implement and accelerate their environmental business transformation journeys. These strategies include reimagining operations, supply chains, emissions management, or ESG and climate risk reporting with the help of emerging technologies to assist organizations in meeting their environmental goals.

For more details on IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite, visit: ibm.biz/environmental-intelligence. To learn more about how innovations across IBM are helping clients seeking to create a more sustainable and resilient future, please visit: ibm.com/sustainability.

The proof-of-concept, developed by researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and published in Scientific Reports, does not require any chemicals, reagents or laboratory equipment. Instead, a regular smartphone camera can be used, tracking microorganisms called Paramecia that are ubiquitous in water bodies. The group suggests it might be especially suitable for assessing water drinkability in underdeveloped regions.

Typically, levels of environmental pollutants are measured by assessing their impact on a given population. Though such impacts may be visible after several days for microorganisms, it takes several years for the true scale to be revealed in larger animals.

Visible motion
To accelerate these measurements, researchers led by Assistant Professor Javier Fernandez at the Fermart Lab used a simple computer vision method to track and measure the impact of pollutants on the behaviour of microorganisms. Specifically, they used the changes in the swimming speed of Paramecium aurelia – a single-celled organism that can move at surprising speeds of more than ten times their body length per second.

“We chose Paramecia because they are ubiquitous in water bodies and large enough to be seen with a normal camera,” explained Fernandez. “They are also fast swimmers, so small differences in their swimming speed will translate to large changes, making them easy to measure.”

By tracking the swimming speeds and movements of waterborne Paramecia through a simple microscope set up on camera phones, they found that they could accurately infer the quality of and presence of pollutants in water samples within minutes.

To track the Paramecia, the team recorded videos, then ran an object identification and tracking algorithm that would detect the creatures automatically and calculate their swimming speeds and movement. “Swimming speeds are slightly different between different individuals. But with all this data, we are able to reduce the impact of that variability and obtain general features of their swimming,” said Fernandez.

Slower swimming
The researchers showed that the swimming speeds of Paramecia are affected by pollutants like the heavy metals zinc chloride and copper sulphate, as well as the common antibiotic erythromycin. These changes occurred within the range of the pollutants’ permissible limits; for instance, at heavy metal concentrations half of those considered unsafe for drinking water, the average swimming speed of Paramecia was nearly halved.

Likewise, there were immediate and significant reductions to the swimming speed of Paramecia at concentrations considered hazardous – potentially allowing researchers to quickly evaluate a specific pollutant’s impact in a specific environment.

“Taking a sample of water and measuring the speed of Paramecia can therefore be used as a straightforward method to assess the drinkability of water without the need for specialised equipment or chemicals,” said Fernandez. “Usually, you would need a different test for each pollutant, but Paramecia swimming is a global measurement.”

The team designed the system under the umbrella of what is known as “frugal engineering,” where advanced methods like object tracking and analysis perform tasks with minimal frills, enabling widespread applicability with little resources.

According to the authors, the demonstrated correlation between the swimming speed of microorganisms and pollutant presence, and its assessment in just a few minutes, can be used as a straightforward, resourceless way to assess water quality globally or as a substitute for standardised methods to measure toxicity in laboratory environments.

“In the future, someone might try a different type of microorganism. Various pollutants would affect organisms differently, so pulling data together from multiple microorganisms would enable us to better understand the source of the pollutants,” said Fernandez. “What we’ve demonstrated proves that we can get information on water quality in a cheap and simple way, without any technical instruments and in no time at all.”

The emergence of smart sensors coupled with rapid advances in communications infrastructure is revolutionising almost every aspect of our daily lives. While the water sector has not been the fastest to adopt and deploy smart solutions, it is rapidly catching up. Better late than never! The early adopters will undoubtedly lead the way, grabbing the market as they solve problems and accumulate experience.

Enabling this revolution is a coming-together of technological advances in discrete sectors: The emergence of cost-effective IoT-enabled smart sensors and meters (AMR and AMI devices), improvements in battery life and less power-hungry instrumentation, and the growth of communications networks like low power wide area network technologies such as 169 MHz LPWAN systems.

Water has often been neglected and undervalued, yet life as we know it would not exist without it. The Earth is a closed ecosystem dependent upon this finite resource, which will have to sustain generations to come. Nature has been recycling it for millennia.

With a burgeoning human population, the lightning pace of industrialization, and now climate change, the stress on freshwater water availability has never been so great. Having said that, there is light at the end of the tunnel and one form of that is smart solutions for the water industry.

With water scarcity issues mounting by the minute and pressure from regulators, water utilities around the world are beginning to turn to smart solutions and AI platforms to help them overcome these challenges. The four key areas for the deployment of smart technologies are:

a. Smart water metering
b. Smart water leakage detection
c. Smart water quality
d. Smart distribution networks

The first two items: smart metering and leak detection, are more about building awareness of what’s happening, and supporting access to live to monitor water consumption and wastage. Water loss due to leakage (non-revenue water) can be as high as 45% in some countries, which establishes the scale of the problem but also the opportunity. The awareness the technology provides will initiate a step-change in our attitude and habits when it comes to water consumption and conservation as users. The list of benefits of smart infrastructure goes on and I have attempted to summarize just a few as follows:

a. Data from smart meters can be used to understand water usage patterns and detect leaks at the consumer end, thus detecting leaks before they cause major flooding and structural damage. The latter in turn would help bring down insurance costs and claims.

b. It will provide more accurate billing and transparency by overcoming human error and any potential legal difficulties.

c. It could enable the introduction of bespoke water charges that depend on the usage in peak vs off-peak hours. This would also help flatten the demand curve on the network, enhancing network resilience while providing consumers more cost-effective billing options.

d. Reducing or eliminating the need for vans or transport for manual meter readers. Reduced labour costs and HSE incidents.

e. Smart sensors in the water distribution networks could help detect leakages in the network, helping utilities overcome water scarcity issues and proactively address minor leaks before they become a major incident with extensive repair bills.

f. Fixed speed pumps are one of the highest energy consumption elements of water networks. Using data to manage smart pumping stations, with live and variable control on pumps, reacting to network demand, would significantly reduce energy costs, increase asset life and reduce the impact on the environment.

g. Use of AI platforms and data analytics to lead proactive, preventative maintenance of all water infrastructure assets.

h. Real-time water quality monitoring, to continuously assess water health and build consumer confidence.

The deployment landscape in developed nations is, however, somewhat different to that in the developing world. With the latter, we are seeing rapid population growth and urbanization, including the emergence of new cities and the expansion of existing ones. The UN predicts that almost 70% of the world’s population will inhabit cities by 2050. Against this backdrop of rapid urbanization, new infrastructure is being developed and there is an opportunity to install smart water technologies, creating a new benchmark.

The opportunity in developed nations represents a slightly different challenge which comes from existing infrastructure showing signs of ageing. It will require technologies that can help proactively maintain or upgrade the same. While this sets a requirement for the industry, the landscape for the delivery of end-to-end smart solutions is foggy at best. Providing complete end-to-end solutions will require the forging of robust collaborations and partnerships across hardware, software, project management, delivery and service partners, and bringing together expertise and know-how developed in discrete silos.
The opportunity is certainly here now, with a number of estimates suggesting that the smart water market is expected to reach $30 billion pa. over the next 5 years.

At the end of the day, it is all about getting cleverer and safer with water usage and its management, preserving this precious gift of nature, and ensuring the availability of hygienic water for all.

Long-established fixtures on the environmental monitoring calendar, both AQE (Air Quality & Emissions) and WWEM (Water Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring) events will take place online on 13-14 October 2021.

WWEM and AQE visitors can now register (free of charge) for the virtual conference and exhibition at www.ilmexhibitions.com. Pre-registration will provide free access to “a comprehensive conference programme that will address all of the most topical environmental monitoring issues”.

“Virtual attendees will be able to dip in and out of their chosen presentations, as well as visiting the virtual booths of the world’s leading organisations in air quality, emissions, water and wastewater monitoring, and related products and services.”

The event platform will provide networking and match-making opportunities for all visitors, speakers and exhibitors, with facilities to quickly and easily arrange appointments/ meetings/ calls with exhibitors or other visitors in advance of the show. In total, there will be over 60 hours of free LIVE technical content, virtual exhibits from over 150 world-leading organisations, and technical experts will be available on the virtual exhibition booths to answer questions and provide demonstrations. Registered visitors are therefore urged to pre-book appointments with their chosen exhibitors.

The air quality conference will address three major themes: air quality regulations; air quality and climate change, and indoor air quality and public health.

The emissions conference will also address three themes: the measurement of low emissions; biogenic carbon measurement, and mercury monitoring.

The three main themes of the analytical conference will be the challenges involved with the laboratory analysis of microplastics, PFAS, and coronaviruses in wastewater.

The WWEM instrumentation conference will cover highly topical issues in the water sector such as pollution control in receiving waters, CSO spills, data management, climate change and stakeholder engagement.

By pre-registering for either of the virtual events (www.ilmexhibitions.com), visitors will be able to assimilate all of the latest findings from some of the world’s leading researchers, and at the same time be able to discuss the practicalities of environmental testing and monitoring with some of the sector’s leading experts.