At The Tap

Harnessing Pesticide Degrading Bacteria for Enhanced Drinking Water Treatment

Reference: 24/DW/13/11
ISBN: 978-1-84057-995-6
Published Date: 09/01/2024

This research aimed to enhance biological pesticide degradation in the UK, focusing on ensuring drinking water safety through the use of molecular biology techniques for isolating and culturing pesticide-degrading organisms. The approach involved a literature search on bacterial biodegradation of micropollutants in UK drinking water, leading to the isolation and testing of nine bacterial strains against metaldehyde and glyphosate residues (AMPA). These strains underwent batch tests and microcosm trials in real water and sand from water treatment facilities, followed by bioaugmentation in pilot scale slow sand filtration systems. While efficient for metaldehyde, the biodegradation of AMPA proved more challenging. This research underscores the importance of optimizing conditions for effective bioremediation and translating laboratory findings to real-world scenarios. 

DWQ Big question - how can we achieve 100% compliance with drinking water standards at point of use by 2050?

Reference: 17/DW/13/2
ISBN: 1 84057 829 7
Published Date: 25/07/2017

Drinking Water Quality Big Question:  How Can We Achieve 100% Compliance with Drinking Water Standards at Point of Use by 2050?

UKWIR has undertaken an ambitious programme to define longer term, strategic research needs in key areas via its Big Questions initiative.  To support the development of this drinking water quality (DWQ) Big Question, a community-owned list of prioritised research needs to achieve 100% compliance for drinking water quality was produced. 

The innovations needed in drinking water quality were evaluated from source to tap to capture the inter-dependencies within water systems and to identify the best intervention options to balance risk reduction and cost.  The approach for the prioritisation of DWQ research needs considered the degree of current knowledge, including uncertainty and gaps, and mapped that against the degree of risk associated with each contaminant.   Contaminants with lowest knowledge and highest risk were prioritised as the focus of future research at an interactive workshop.  The prioritised issues included those where little occurrence data exists, where there is a need to increase fundamental understanding, or where both occurrence data and understanding are lacking. 

You can download this report FOC via the UKWIR website. 

Chlorine Usage, Availability and Trends

Reference: 09/DW/13/1
ISBN: 1 84057 540 9
Published Date: 13/10/2009

Questions over the availability and cost of chlorine, and its acceptability in relation to Health and Safety, environmental, customer, and by-product concerns, led to the need to consider alternatives for water treatment in the UK in the medium to long term. This work has quantified the dependency of the UK water industry on chlorine, and has assessed the likelihood of increased cost or reduced availability of chlorine in the near future. There is no indication that environmental, customer or by-product issues will reduce the acceptability of chlorine, nor is there a widespread policy among water companies for a move away from chlorine gas because of Health and Safety implications. Alternatives to chlorine for disinfection would increase the costs considerably, and in some cases the enegy use and greenhouse gas emissions would also be greatly increased.