Fulton County Public Waterworks
Challenge Detected
The Water Services Division of Public Works mission is to protect the health, safety and welfare of Fulton County’s citizens through systematic planning, construction, maintenance and operation of the water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure in the most sustainable, efficient and environmentally sound manner.
Fulton County Public Works is staying on the cutting edge with its use of an automated microbiological detection instrument for routine monitoring of its drinking water system. The TECTA™ B16 instrument simultaneously detects both Total Coliforms and E. coli within 2-18 hours, without input or interpretation from a technician.
This instrument was chosen for its ease of use, rapid results, electronic notification, and cost savings.
Fulton County Public Works, under the Total Coliforms Rule, is required to monitor its water distribution system for Total Coliforms and E. coli.
Previously utilizing SM 9223 B Colilert 18/24 as its primary method and SM 9221 D F HACH Presence/Absence as a secondary method, Fulton County Public Works found itself limited to collecting samples Monday through Thursday.
Since these two methods require laboratory technicians to be present in the laboratory to receive results, Friday sampling would require a technician to work weekends, thereby incurring overtime costs.[rml_read_more]
Additionally, in the event of a water system contamination, it is critical to receive information as soon as possible. The SM 9223 B Colilert 18/24 and SM 9221 D F HACH Presence/Absence methods take up to 24 hours to provide results; delayed results mean delayed investigations into positive samples and potential response times. This inhibits Fulton County Public Works and threatens the health, safety and welfare of Fulton County’s citizens.
Solution Detected
The TECTA™ B16 was created by the Pathogen Detection Systems of Canada, in response to contamination events and global demand for faster and automated microbial detection solutions.
The TECTA™ B16 provides accurate and fully automated test results for E. coli and Coliforms bacteria much faster than traditional methods. The TECTA™ solution uses the directed enzyme-substrate method combined with a patented polymer partition technology and spectrometer to actively read and interpret test results, enabling the lab to have an early alert in the case of contamination events.
Utilizing an automated microbiological platform, the TECTA™ method is simple, sensitive and flexible, allowing samples to be tested any time of the day. This feature is of specific benefit for the drinking water lab, tasked for public safety and accountable to their client’s urgent water sample analysis requirements.
Fast and reliable results for a fast and reliable laboratory!
Success Detected
Adopting the TECTA™ B16, Fulton County Public works is now able to receive automated results, which has translated into cost savings, sample flexibility and quicker response times:
Receiving results in real time has freed up lab technicians to perform other duties while being confident about getting timely results. Because the results are sent via text or email, technicians no longer need to report to the laboratory for read-backs. Also, because the TECTA™ B16 can detect a positive sample within two hours, Fulton County Public Works is able to investigate a positive sample within the same day as opposed to having to wait 24 hours.
Water Quality Manager, Patrick Person, was also highly impressed with the TECTA™ B16 for its capability to count up to 10 to the 8th CFU per 100 mL of sample, as well as read and interpret results of a sample with some levels of turbidity (useful when collecting samples from lakes, streams and rivers). “The TECTA™ B16 allows quick easy to read Fecal Coliforms/ E. coli count without having to be concern about diluting the sample and getting “good” countable colonies on a plate, yielding quick information about possible sewer line breaks and spills,” says Person.