Expanding Access to Water Quality Monitoring with the Open-source WaterScope Testing Platform

Dabrowska, A., Lewis, G.R., Atlabachew, M. et al. Expanding access to water quality monitoring with the open-source WaterScope testing platform. npj Clean Water 7, 68 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-024-00357-y

Abstract

Increasing access to water quality tests in low-income communities is a crucial strategy toward achieving global water equality. Recent studies in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector underscore the importance of addressing practical concerns in water testing, such as robustness and results communication.

In response, we present the WaterScope testing kit; an open-source, validated platform for drinking water quality assessment. It modernizes the testing process with the inclusion of a unique cartridge/slider mechanism, machine-learning-enhanced classification, and full digitalization of results.

WaterScope’s equivalency to conventional methods for quantifying E. coli is established through extensive validation experiments in both laboratory and field environments. This versatile platform provides potential to expand its applications to test other bacteria, perform colorimetric assays, and analyse clinical samples such as blood/urine samples. We anticipate that the system’s ease-of-use, portability, affordability, robustness, and digital nature will accelerate progress toward global water equality.

a Key components shown packed inside the system’s case, weighing 6 kg with a size of 29 cm × 23 cm × 26 cm. b Key steps required for a single E. coli test. Note that a single power bank provides sufficient energy for parallel processing of 14 samples with a 21-h incubation period. Results are uploaded to cloud storage via WiFi, via an embedded IoT module with cellular coverage or via an Android App.