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Rapid bacteriological water test kits

john.heelham
related country: Uganda
KnowledgePointAdmin
RedR CCDRR
related country: Uganda

As part of our current programme of borehole drilling, we are going to implement post-construction water quality testing (we already test for a full range of parameters at time of construction) at sites we have constructed this year and in previous years. Ideally we would like a test that is as simple as possible so field staff can carry it out on site (ruling out WagTech, which we have, etc), and provides rapid feedback to water users. We are aware of some kits which allow this (like the swirl bags included in this kit from mwater: https://www.mwater.co/kits.html) but never used them.

Does anyone have any experience of such kits that may be recommendable to provide an almost immediate result? Once you start researching on the web it quickly descends into a minefield of various options!


6 Answers

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Water quality at the well head is important - but the water quality at the point of use is critical. For contractual reasons the former might be a priority but for health impacts, the latter is the only one that really counts.

Comments

Agreed!

Brian Reed gravatar imageBrian Reed ( 2016-12-16 14:00:41 )
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Hi John,

Great to hear about your plans to implement water quality testing in the field and thanks for giving a shout out to our kits. There was recently a meeting convened by UNICEF on the potential for rapid bacteriological testing. I wrote a post about the meeting here: https://medium.com/mwater-technology-...

We also have a knowledge base article on how to begin a water quality program that you might find useful: https://portal.mwater.co/#/dashboards...

Good luck and let me know if we can help.

Best,

John

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Firstly, do a sanitary survey before siting the borehole and after construction. Sanitary surveys are a good way to engage the community.

Secondly, ensure adequate post construction disinfection.

Thirdly, consider third party testing, perhaps with the local District Water Officer. This would be a good hand-over check

Fourthly, leave a few copies of the sanitary survey forms for the users to check.

Lastly, the most expensive part of the water testing is not the kit! It's qualified staff and the logistics of getting there! Use a good kit but this is just QA for the sanitary surveys

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A simple water testing kit can be obtained from Aquagenics https://www.aquagenx.com which we have succesfully used in the field in disaster response . It is not instantaneous but can give test result for E.Coli in 24 -48 hrs with minimal equipment

In agreement with the comments a Sanitary survey ( and ongoing monitoring) is an an essential component and that water quality at point of use rather than at collection is what is most important.

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A simple water testing kit can be obtained from Aquagenics https://www.aquagenx.com which we have succesfully used in the field in disaster response . It is not instantaneous but can give test result for E.Coli in 24 -48 hrs with minimal equipment

In agreement with the comments a Sanitary survey ( and ongoing monitoring) is an an essential component and that water quality at point of use rather than at collection is what is most important.

Comments

Our partner Aguaconsult used Aquagenx test kits for an assessmentof the Accelerating Water and Sanitation for All Program in Myanmar. Contact Ryan Schweitzer for more information at info@aguaconsult.co.uk

CDietvorst gravatar imageCDietvorst ( 2016-12-27 15:53:04 )
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Thanks to Dan Sanger and Cor Dietvorst for mentioning our Compartment Bag Test (CBT)!

John, the CBT is a simple, portable water quality test kit for E. coli that is ideal for on-site testing in low resource, rural and disaster/emergency areas. Our test generates quantified (MPN) results without needing labs, electricity or expensive equipment. The CBT works at variable temperatures, doesn't require constant temperature control and enables ambient temp incubation at 25 degrees Celsius and above. Anyone can use the CBT with little training.

The CBT is supported by the mWater mobile app so users with smartphones can calculate and share CBT test results in real time, and create and map water quality surveys.

Happy to answer your questions and feel free to contact me directly. Look forward to hearing from you!

Lisa Hirsh Aquagenx lhirsh@aquagenx.com 1+919-590-0343 www.aquagenx.com