Portable water testing labs provide rural communities with safer water

Testing drinking water for bacteria and contaminants is important to keeping citizens safe. However, rural and remote communities often lack the resources or facilities needed for standard water-quality testing, requiring samples to be sent to larger urban areas. A new portable microbial water testing lab, developed by Alberta-based startup Roshan Waters Solutions, is providing rural communities with an on-site solution, and empowering them to take control of their water testing needs.

A VeloCensTM portable water testing device.

Roshan Water Solutions’ patented VeloCens^TM technology was an idea born from the academic work of co-founders Amirreza Sohrabi and Parmiss Mojir Shaibani. Both completed their PhDs in materials engineering at the University of Alberta and studied various water monitoring and treatment methods. Mojir Shaibani’s work was the impetus behind their business. She worked as part of a program directly aimed at helping rural and remote communities that struggled to find fast and efficient water testing solutions and learned first-hand the standard testing methods used in more populated regions were not a good fit for rural areas.

Relying on urban centres to conduct water quality testing puts rural and remote communities in a tricky position. Samples have about a 12-hour shelf life and often must be shipped hundreds of kilometres away for processing. Additionally, the turnaround time to get test results can take 24 to 36 hours. This creates an alarming window of time in which thousands of individuals are vulnerable to the risk of consuming water that’s been contaminated by dangerous microorganisms like E. coli.

“When something happens to our water supply,” said Mojir Shaibani, “we need to be able to make public safety decisions right away. Having quick and reliable testing is essential to ensuring water is safe.”

The solution Mojir Shaibani explored during her studies was a portable bacteria sensor unit. When she and Sohrabi realized the potential for this technology to protect human health, they were inspired to make it available to the people who needed it. This became the foundation for Roshan Water Solutions’ patented VeloCens^TM technology, a portable microbiological water testing lab.

At its core, VeloCens^TM technology supports real-time decision-making. It uses innovative nanotechnology to test water for E.coli and Total coliforms on-site and with results available in just one hour. It’s simple to use and according to Sohrabi and Mojir Shaibani, can be used by anyone and anywhere.

Adapting to their user’s needs has helped Roshan Water Solutions continue to strengthen their water monitoring products. In addition to their portable testing unit, they’ve also developed a mobile application that uses QR codes to keep a digital record of the collection and transfer of each sample. This reduces errors in documenting samples and provides a cloudbased data centre where users can track samples and monitor results and trends, a feature that was not previously available in the water monitoring industry.

Since its humble beginnings as a startup of two in 2017, Roshan Water Solutions has grown into an exciting small business with several employees and manufacturing contractors. Sohrabi said the support from Alberta Innovates was invaluable to helping them navigate the transition to the business world, connecting them with knowledgeable mentors who helped them develop their business skill set.

Today, they are close to commercializing products that will protect water quality for potentially thousands of people, and they remain motivated to explore new and innovative ways to keep water safe.

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This article is part of Making Waves, an annual Alberta Innovates publication highlighting water solutions we support. You can read more stories from this issue below.