Onlinefähige Trinkwasserüberwachung auf Grundlage eines biologischen Breitbandsensors mit automatischer Bildauswertung (AquaBioTox)

Water networks are exposed to deliberate or accidental contamination. Especially the drinking water supply is in potential danger to be a terroristic target and public health risks need to be detected in due time. This is why drinking water regulations provide for examining special germs and chemical substances on a regular basis. But today's analytical techniques which are carried out offline in special laboratories are time-consuming to warn the population of contamination risks in time. Their application spectrum is limited, e. g. by separating affected parts of the water supply mains. On the other side they are only limited in spectrum - unknown or unexpected toxical substances are unconsidered which can threaten people's health in the same way. Considering the changed level of threats an early identification of contaminants in drinking water is very important. It should respond quickly and reliably, be robust against false alarm, easy to handle by persons without scientific qualification and the operation should be economically in view of costs of purchase and maintenance. The project AquaBioTox aims to develop and realize such a system. Its operating principle is as follows: Highly sensitive biological microorganisms are exposed to drinking water taken from the main water current, their reaction is continuously monitored by a camera and the data is automatically analyzed in an online procedure. Any characteristic changes, for example regarding their vitality, movement, colouring or glowing, are automatically indicated. The system is properly combined with other sensors available on the market in order to ensure maximum diagnosis reliability and robustness against false alarm in online diagnosis. This combined broadband sensor concept can be used not only to diagnose contamination with hazardous substances but also in more general quality and safety checks on water supply facilities. Ongoing works deal with the prototypical realization of the biological sensors as well as with the automatization and image evaluation of the processes. The project aims to show the efficiency of the sensor system at a test track of the Berlin Waterworks.