Minute Microbial Levels Detection in Water Samples by Portable Microbe Enrichment Unit Technology

Water purity requires continuous monitoring. PMEU technology (Portable Microbe Enrichment Unit) provides the means for starting the enrichment and analysis immediately after the sampling. The entire procedure can be automated and microbe levels monitored in real-time from the enrichment broth by using IR, optical, UV or volatiles screening. For example, single cells of Escherichia coli have been verified from water samples in less than 10 hours in an official validation project. Also such pathogens as Salmonella, Campylobacter and Yersinia have been detected rapidly from natural, purified and irrigation waters. The PMEU technology has potential in the continuous monitoring within water departments and distribution systems, as well as in environmental studies. 1. Background In the present manuscript experimental approach and work carried out with the Portable Microbe Enrichment Unit (PMEU) is presented. This device is an ideal tool to investigate micro-organisms life at microscopic and molecular scale. Micro-organisms such as bacteria have a large influence on our lives with impact on economy, various industries, healthcare, agriculture and forestry, as well as in water management. In Finland our team published booklet entitled "Vesien Mikrobiaapinen" (in English: "A Microbiological ABC book of the waters") with the purpose to provide microbiological information to decision makers. As scientists we continuously deal with the public and their representatives: the political decision makers. In order to get funding, we ought to make them understand the importance of environmental protection and conservation of water sources, from the microbiological point of view. One area where micro-organisms have a large influence is the threat and deleterious impact on human and animal health caused by pathogenic micro-organisms. They are potentially distributed via waterways and often disseminated at small concentrations which still pose health hazards. In order to detect these minute concentrations, new tools are needed, also to simulate their biochemical activities. Their detection is not either a single or a simple event but a whole diagnostic process (Figure 1). Focusing on the often neglected step of specimen collection is of crucial importance. Sampling should be carried out considering all the physicochemical parameters, selection of sampling site etc. Usually it is required to transport and store the sample with caution and care. This is the step when most of the microbes present in the sample are often destroyed. They simply cannot survive or do not remain microbiologically viable. In order to avoid these problems, the Portable Microbe Enrichment Unit was developed. Time is saved in the PMEU processing of the samples, since the verification steps could follow sooner compared to traditional microbiology. The basic simple idea is to start the enrichment cultivation right subsequent to sampling. In practice, using the PMEU technology accelerates the growth and metabolism of microbes in a way that as a whole has been designated as "enhanced enrichment". It has also opened up new applications in the field of water microbiology, which are briefly introduced in the present article.