Imaging instrument helps protect drinking water

Water quality instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies (Yarmouth, ME, USA) has sold an automated FlowCAM particle imaging and analysis system to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

To be deployed in the Huntington District in West Virginia, the FlowCAM system will speed the detection and identification of cyanobacteria and other algal cells in source water and permit advisories to be issued to the public more quickly than possible when using manual microscopy.

The Huntington District Corps of Engineers manages 311 navigable miles of the Ohio River in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio,plus nine major tributaries and operates 35 multi-purpose reservoirs that provide drinking water to the region.

While the large majority of these reservoirs have never experienced toxin producing algal blooms, an increasing awareness of harmful algal blooms and their role in public safety were factors in the purchase, according to Jonathan Dawson, a sales manager at Fluid Imaging Technologies.

Using a microscope, it takes a week after a sample is taken to document the presence of algal cells. A trained phycologist must identify the species, provide a count and determine if advisories are needed.

"If that knowledge can be provided faster, then the water quality department will be in a better position to provide information to the public The FlowCAM automatically detects, images, measures and identifies thousands of individual particles and microorganisms in a sample in seconds and saves the images and data for analysis," says Dawson.

Related articles on the use of the FlowCAM that you might also find of interest.

1. Vision system celebrates six weeks underwater

An imaging particle analysis system from marine instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies (Yarmouth , ME, USA) recently surpassed six weeks of continuous, unattended operation during in-situ deployment in the coastal waters of Florida.

2. FDA goes with the flow

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has purchased a FlowCAM particle imaging and analysis system from laboratory instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies (Yarmouth, ME, USA).

3. Flavor-provider selects Fluid Imaging for quality control

WILD Flavors (Cincinnati, OH, USA; www.wildflavors.com) has selected a FlowCAM system from Fluid Imaging Tehnologies (Edgecomb, ME, USA; www.fluidimaging.com) for its quality control applications.

-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design