Microbiological monitoring

Microbiological monitoring: take control over water quality and safety in your process

Analyzer system integration

Microbial water quality analysis is traditionally done by occasional grab sampling and heterotypic plate counting (HPC). HPC is time consuming, labor intensive and is often not representative of the total microbial population that can be cultured. Due to the infrequent measurement and delays in reporting, the HPC data cannot be effectively used in decision processes in plant operation. In contrast, microbiological monitoring is a continuous assessment of the water quality, provided that the applied analytical method is meaningful, simple, rapid and cost-effective.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a marker for cell viability used in a number of hygienic applications in many industries. ATP is an essential element in all living cells and organisms, so even the slightest change in ATP levels can be detected by an early warning system to help assess microbial load and the possible presence of dangerous pathogens in water.

AppliTek’s EZ-ATP® On-line Microbiology Analyzer brings new levels of automation, reliability and performance in the field of microbiological monitoring. It is considered as the first on-line water analyzer able to measure and report ATP levels according to the well-established ASTM D4012 standard method for reporting live bacteria. Contrary to conventional or manual analysis methods used today, the EZ-ATP® is a true monitoring system that can detect as little as 50 femtograms/ml ATP in 15 minutes saving time and labor. The EZ-ATP® uses superior and stable Promega Water-Glo™ luciferin and luciferase reagents to determine microbial load in water.

Other operational features and benefits of the water analyzer include:

  • Complete ATP recovery: detection of intracellular, extracellular and total ATP
  • No bias from the composition of the growth medium such as with plate counting
  • No delay between sample take-off and measurement
  • Low cost of analysis relative to a large number of results
  • Low limit of detection (LOD): 0.05 ng/L (0.1 pM) ATP
  • Low maintenance, easy replaceable reagent kit

The increasing need for rapid and routine monitoring of the microbial load of water is observed in many application fields where microbial contamination and biofouling are serious threats to either productivity or human health. With the recent developments in early warning systems, ATP has become an increasingly useful parameter to monitor microbial water quality in the field of drinking water, food & beverage, power generation, desalination and oil & gas. The EZ-ATP® provides results in minutes and presents a means to track microbial growth in a water body, serving as an objective basis for taking corrective actions.

Please contact our expert teams in Belgium to discuss your unique needs for monitoring and controlling your process.