Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Improved new artificial intelligence (AI) technology could soon make keeping check on various bacteria and other contaminants at water treatments plants cheaper, easier, and also help protect the people from water-borne diseases.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo have developed an AI software that can identify and quantify various types of cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, which if not monitored closely, can proliferate and cause the water systems at the plant to shut down.

Monica Emelko, professor of civil and environmental engineering and member of the Water Institute at Waterloo said, “We need to protect our water supplies. This tool will arm us with a sentinel system, a more rapid indication when they are threatened”

“The exciting piece is that we’ve shown testing utilizing AI can be done quickly and well. Now it’s time to work through all the possible scenarios and optimize the technology”, she added.

The AI system developed by the team uses a software along with a microscope that helps examine the presence of algae in the water samples in just one to two hours. A human analyst also confirms the results provided by the AI software.

Up until this new technology, scientists had to send water samples to labs to that they could be manually tested by technicians. This process would usually take one to two days. The few automated system that are available are too expensive and require many supplies.

Acoording to Emelko and her collaborator Alexander Wong, who is a systems design engineering professor at Waterloo, the new AI technology could help solve problems before they went out of control since it makes testing a lot easier, and also help save considerable amount of money.

The research team notes their goal is to create an AI system that can keep on monitoring water samples for any kind of contaminants and harmful microorganisms.

“This brings our research into a high-impact area,” said Wong. “Helping to ensure safe water through widespread deployment of this technology would be one of the great ways to really make AI count.”

But the team believes to create a proper fully commercial sample testing system that can be used in labs and at treatments plants might take two or three years of time. Three or four years from now, the AI software will be able to continuously monitor water samples.

“It’s critical to have running water, even if we have to boil it, for basic hygiene,” concluded Emelko. “If you don’t have running water, people start to get sick.” The study was published recently in the journal Scientific Reports.

By Purnima

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