Microbiological water quality tests are expensive and often require electricity. Those areas most in need of water testing are often lacking electricity for incubators and other lab equipment.

Detailed description of the solution

The EC-Kit has two tests for assessing water quality: the Colilert tubes and Petrifilms. The Colilert tubes have a reagent powder that indicates the presence or absence of total coliforms and fecal coliforms (e.g. E. coli) in 10 mL of water. Petrifilm is the cheaper alternative to membrane filtration, and allows for quantitative counts of E. coli and total coliform colonies in 1 mL of sample. Like most microbiological tests, the Colilert test and Petrifilm tests need incubation, but incubation is supplied by body heat alone, removing the need for expensive incubators.

Designed by

• Designed by: Patty Chuang, John Millspaugh, Jessica Molly Patrick and Stephanie Trottier of MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

When and where it was tested/implemented

This device completed community field testing in Capiz Province in the Philippines from 2008-2009.

Funding Source

This device has received several grants. They are listed here:

• EC; FP7 Grant 283465: Research Infrastructures
• EC; FP7 Grant 283304: Infrastructures (2007-2013)

References