Application field

Process Water Analysis

ColiMinder™ an analyzer for process water and industrial water to detect fecal or total microbiological contamination in any industrial process within 15 minutes fully automatic.
ColiMinder monitoring industrial water

Industrial Process Water Quality

Water use in industrial processes is subject to ever more stringent legal regulations and restrictions worldwide, and industry is obliged to reinforced re-use of water in closed cycles.

In water related processes microbiological water quality is of utmost importance as contamination can possibly reduce process efficiency, tie up a production plant or destroy a complete production range.

Knowing the microbiological contamination of industrial water in real-time enables to control the important process parameter of microbiological or fecal contamination to

  • control contamination level fully automated directly in the process
  • control process effectiveness
  • set early warning and thus enable quick reaction on contamination events
  • avoid tying up production processes
  • improve efficiency and efficacy of industrial processes
  • reduce direct process costs as well as follow-up costs caused by complete process interruption or contaminated products
  • protect environment through reduction of disinfection by-products
  • enable correlation of microbial contamination with events within the process
  • increase work and workers safety

 

How does it work?

The ColiMinder measures the specific metabolic (enzymatic) activity of the target organisms present in the sample.

The measured value provides information about the energy turnover of living organisms in the sample. Living organisms need energy, which they gain through their metabolism, so the metabolic activity reflects the energetic turnover of the existing microorganisms.

The measured activity directly indicates the faecal contamination or total microbiological activity level of the water.

 

 

How do I Use the ColiMinder?

ColiMinder can automatically monitor various process steps – critical control points – in industrial and process water treatment and discharge, providing a direct visualization of microbial dynamics of your processes. The timeline displays any change in microbial contamination, providing precise and valuable information that was previously unavailable.

Since the results of the ColiMinder are available in near real time, microbiological water quality is now available as a parameter for process control. In addition, real-time alerts can be sent when defined bacterial contamination limits are exceeded.

The ColiMinder has proven its ability to specifically measure any type of fecal indicator bacteria or total microbial activity in industrial and process water. It reliably detects any type of contamination, whether it is E.coli bacteria, enterococci or total microbiological activity.

Different add-on modules are available to ensure stable and reliable sampling and results.

How do I use the results?

The measured enzymatic activity of the sample provides a direct answer to the question: “how high is the faecal or microbial contamination of the sample?”.

Depending on the reagent used, the measurement results are specific for the corresponding target organism.

The results not only provide direct quantitative information about the microbial contamination in the process, but shape and course of the measurement timeline also contain valuable information about the dynamics of the microbiological load and thus allow conclusions to be drawn about the causes of changes.

Depending on the reagent used, the measurement results are specific for the corresponding target organism.

 

Sensitivity

The analytical capability of ColiMinder in industrial process water measurements is comparable to that of determinations of HPC or to that of chromogenic coliform agar counts in the case of fecal contamination.

A recent scientific study published in Water Research shows that the ColiMinder is the most sensitive instrument available on the market for monitoring microbial quality of water.

Please see: Favere, J., Waegenaar, F., Boon, N., & De Gusseme, B. (2021). Online microbial monitoring of drinking water: How do different techniques respond to contaminations in practice?, published in Water Research Journal

 

Reliability

The reliability of the ColiMinder has been demonstrated in several installations where the devices have been providing reliable measurement results in continuous operation since 2015.

Maintenance:

Thanks to the sophisticated system for fully automatic cleaning and calibration, the maintenance effort is limited to refilling the consumables. Replacement of the silicone hoses is recommended every 2 years, otherwise no maintenance is required.

Stability

The ColiMinder instruments measure absolutely stable, no manual calibration is necessary as the instruments calibrate themselves automatically at regular intervals.

Robustness

The ColiMinder can measure any type of sample without pre-treatment.

It has no problem with suspended sediments or turbid samples.

Even fluctuating background fluorescence has no effect on the measurement result due to the measurement approach.

Its robustness towards environmental influences, like temperature, humidity, chemical load etc., is evident in installations like at Stonecutter Island Sewage Treatment Plant in Hong Kong, where it has been monitoring effluent 24/7 since 2017 without any issues.

It has got an IP65 protected housing, and it can measure in the temperature range from 0°C to 40°C.

 

 

Can I do compliance testing with the ColiMinder?

The ColiMinder provides operational monitoring as recommended by the WHO, the EU Drinking Water Directive and others.

Real-time measurement of current microbiological quality enables rapid response and correction, so the ColiMinder helps you to meet specified limits at the lowest cost and with the highest level of safety.

A correlation between standard lab results and ColiMinder results can be established and used internally but the system is not intended to replace compliance testing.

 

Can ColiMinder results be expressed in CFU ?

In contrast to classical culture-based laboratory methods, which are based on the cultivation of bacteria, the enzymatic measurement method of the ColiMinder is based on the direct measurement of the metabolic activity of the target organisms.

There is therefore no direct and generally valid conversion between the two methods.
In general, however, a correlation table can be created through comparative measurements, which can then be used for conversion.

Benefits

Receive real-time warning

In case of contamination events

Monitor your process performance

In order to increase process efficiency, safety and sustainability

Learn more about your process

The result timelines (microbiological activity, transmission and intrinsic fluoresence) carry important additional information about the dynamics of the system

Safeguard your water quality

along the entire water treatment process and in your closed water cycle

Scan your closed water cycle quickly

in case of microbiological contamination events, to identify source of contamination

Avoid overdosing

Adjust disinfection intensity to actual contamination

References

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ColiMinder monitoring microbiological quality level of cooling lubricant production

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ColiMinder deployed for monitoring microbiological water quality in industrial water – South Africa

Example of result timeline

produced by the ColiMinder® showing bacterial contamination in metal working fluid production

ColiMinder use cases

proven by customers!

The ColiMinder bacterial analyzer can be installed at any stage of a process and industrial water treatment for real-time monitoring of microbiological contamination.

automotive industry

liquid production

oil & gas production

cooling towers

pharma

pulp & paper

For more information:

Several White Papers can be found here in the download area to provide further information about process water measurements with the ColiMinder.

References

The ColiMinder™ had proven its reliability and stability in various drinking water applications world-wide

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Austrian municipal drinking water production from groundwater well: the ColiMinder monitoring raw water intake and after activated carbon filtration in alternating mode.

Quick live introduction