The agency presently regulates 90 harmful chemicals, microorganisms and even radiation in water. To ensure even healthier drinking water, EPA is encouraging research into other possible contaminants and with faster technologies.
“By supporting research into innovative technologies and approaches to rapidly detect and identify viruses, bacteria and chemicals in drinking water, we can prevent illness," said George Gray, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These new projects will expand the toolkit available to those on the front lines of protecting our nation's drinking water and public health.”
Grant recipients are:
- Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, Richland, Wash.: $595,927 to develop a system for quantifying and removing noroviruses — viruses that cause gastrointestinal illness.
- Drexel University, Philadelphia, Penn.: $599,999 to develop a field-portable sensor device that can quickly detect algal toxins or potential toxin-producers in source, finished and system waters.
- Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont.: $599,996 to create novel, rapid methodologies for detecting pathogenic waterborne microbial contaminants that can be applied both locally and nationally. Information relevant to water quality and associated health risks on the Crow Reservation will be obtained.
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.: $600,000 to develop a rapid and sensitive sensor that can be used in the field to detect, identify and measure cyanotoxins — poisons produced by some blue-green algae.
- University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.: $600,000 to design a new technology using the metal lanthanum to detect low levels of viruses and bacteria in water.
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass.: $508,494 to establish fiber-optic genosensors that can rapidly detect and count multiple species of cyanobacteria in both laboratory and field settings.
