The Water Research Commission (South Africa’s national funding agency dedicated to water research and development) and the Department of Science and Technology are jointly running an innovation programme known as the Water Technologies Demonstration Programme (Wader). “Wader started last year,” explains programme manager Nirvashnee Seetal. “It’s the first of its kind for the water sector. It is intended to encourage innovation in the water sector. We seek to collaboratively demonstrate various water technologies at operational level, and not at laboratory scale.”
One of the projects being conducted under Wader is the Mobile Water Testing Laboratory, which was displayed at the recent Innovation Bridge event, in Pretoria. The company responsible for designing and building the mobile lab is Analysers On-Line (AOL). The lab is mounted in a trailer, which is a converted Venter horse box. It is able to carry out analyses in compliance with South African National Standards and other regulations.
“We designed the layout of the equipment in the trailer,” reports AOL owner Peter Hillier. “We did the reinforcement and strengthening of the basic structures of the trailer. We put water tanks in its roof for potable water. We fitted the equipment. “We started work on it in 2012 and finished it in early 2013 and it started operating in April 2013.” Since then it has been employed in monitoring the Oliphants river basin, moving around from the coal mining centre of Witbank to the Kruger National Park. “The lab can be operated automatically or by an analyst. “These labs can be customised to meet different requirements,” he notes. Indeed, in due course, the company could also develop mobile science labs for totally different areas of research.
The impetus behind the development of the mobile lab is the need to effectively and timeously test the quality of water and treated waste water. Such monitoring is required to ensure that consumers receive the quality of water that they require. Undertaking such tests involves qualified staff in properly equipped labs. But many areas in South Africa do not have such personnel or accredited labs. Currently, as a result, in these areas, water quality is either not regularly monitored or samples have to be sent to labs elsewhere, causing delays (as well as raising the issue of the chain of custody of the samples).
Now, municipalities lacking their own laboratories and without the money to build and staff such facilities will have the option provided by the mobile lab. Further, mobile water testing labs could also be used for water quality research in the remoter areas of the country and, in addition, to provide decision-makers and researchers with more regular data, over a wider geographical area. They could also be used to support the research and development of water-related biosensors and diagnostic kits, so helping to create new products for the local and international markets.
Because of their mobility, such labs could be shared between municipalities and/or other institutions. They could also be rapidly deployed to places suffering from outbreaks of waterborne diseases or contamination.
“Anyone who needs laboratory analysis services but lacks the necessary fixed infrastructure could use this mobile lab,” states Seetal. “We hope that interested companies will acquire these labs and provide their services to municipalities, mining companies and other businesses and institutions. Or the end - users could buy or lease their own units. We’re looking at various business models. Our aim is [for] the labs [to be] built in South Africa, creating jobs.” The hope is to develop a niche industry serving local and international needs.