- Story of a Swiss commune that chose BactoSense -
Located in the heart of the Swiss Alps, Saxon (VS) is home to a small community of 3000 households.
The municipality, situated at the foot of the legendary Pierre Avoi, obtains most of its water from pure and natural mountain springs. Fed by rainwater and filtered by the mountain rocks, the drinking water in the village is palatable and cold fresh all year.
Heavy rainfall may lead to water contamination
A few years ago, when the Valais municipality announced that their water is contaminated with bacteria and tap water shouldn’t be consumed without boiling it first, the inhabitants of Saxon were taken aback.
The region had experienced heavy rainfall and the local authorities suspected that the inevitable weather event had caused a microbial contamination of their natural spring water – which was confirmed by a laboratory a few days later.
In accordance with the applicable emergency protocol, the entire water system was flushed, and water had to be treated with chemicals – such as chlorine – for as long as the contamination was detectable.
Coincidentally, two local residents were working for a local automation company called PMAX.
On behalf of their community, they used their knowledge to find a faster approach to better respond to possible water contamination in the future. Using their extensive automation knowledge, the experts developed and presented their suggestions to the municipal authorities.
Finding the right balance
Faced with the challenge of meeting the local community's demand for untreated water while also limiting the risk of contamination, the forward-thinking municipal authorities were open to PMAX's holistic approach.
To implement their strategy, they needed a rapid and fully autonomous microbiological water analysis instrument that could be installed directly at the water reservoir. So, PMAX reached out to an EPFL spin-off which is specialised in this field, bNovate Technologies.
A groundbreaking solution for safe water, anytime, anywhere
There they found with BactoSense the perfect solution for their process. This compact and automated flow cytometer has the ability to give a precise water analysis every 30 minutes, which makes it ideal for continuous drinking water microbiological monitoring.
With this concept in mind, PMAX has designed a turnkey solution to continuously monitor, evaluate and manage the water quality.
The screening for changes in the microbial composition of water performed by BactoSense is now linked to the municipal control and visualization system via PLC and SCADA. A multi-step analysis method using real-time meteorological data given by meteosuisse insures safe drinking water even in case of extreme weather conditions - such as heavy rains.
Peace of mind around the clock
Since installing BactoSense, local authorities have had peace of mind knowing that the water is being monitored 24/7. More than that, they have access to the results online, for an optimized monitoring and control process. bNovate’s digital, high-tech measurement in combination with PMAX's expertise provides an automated escalation method in the case of bacteria increase in the water network, allowing an immediate reaction.
Using BactoSense reduces the risk of microbial contamination, eliminates unnecessary heavy chlorination, and enables fast intervention.
In addition, early detection of microbial changes in water is used to determine when to collect grab samples for further analysis. Tested for other incidents, this well-designed solution has proven itself on more than one occasion.
Today, whatever the weather situation, the inhabitants of Saxon continue to enjoy their natural spring water with serenity.
You can find an article on Aqua & Gas online about the BactoSense in Saxon (in French, "Automatiser pour garantier la qualité de l'eau potable").