Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of detecting, identifying, and quantifying microbes in a wastewater treatment process or facility. The invention identifies the microbes by manipulation of their DNA. Microbes are collected, and a portion of the DNA sequence of a particular gene that is found in microbes is amplified. The amplified DNA sequence contains a highly variable region that can be used identify the microbe. Each amplified DNA sequence is matched against known sequences in various microbes. The identity of the microbes present in a sample can be determined and, sometimes, their biological functions too. Also, the relative quantities of the microbes, compared to the total microbial pool, can be determined. With this information, harmful microbes can be identified and targeted for removal from the wastewater, and beneficial microbes can be cultivated as desired.

System for monitoring pulp chemistry data of an operating mineral or water processing plant, comprising at least one sample point on a process stream of the operating plant for continuously sampling slurry from the process stream, a sample chamber for receiving the sampled slurry and a feed line between the sample point and the sample chamber to feed the sampled slurry to the sample chamber, wherein the sample chamber is located on the plant site and is arranged for measuring pulp chemistry data of the sampled slurry, further comprising a control system for processing the measured data and providing the measured data to an operator interface element in real-time.

The present invention relates to a method of detecting contaminants of microbial origin in a water distribution system and, more particularly, to a method of identifying the microbes contaminating the system, by manipulation of the DNA of the microbes. The microbes are collected, and a portion of the DNA sequence of a particular gene that is found in microbes is amplified. The portion of the DNA sequence that is amplified contains a highly variable region and the identity of the microbe can be determined by that DNA sequence. Each amplified DNA sequences is matched against the known sequences of corresponding regions in the DNA sequences of various microbes. Thus, the spectrum of microbial contaminants, and their relative quantities, can be identified in the liquid collected from different locations of the water distribution system.

Embodiments as disclosed herein may include a sensor including a luminophor exposed to a fluid flow path. The luminophor may emit light in response to illumination by an excitation light source. The magnitude of light emitted by the luminophor in response to illumination may be determined. It can be determined if this magnitude is within a threshold of the baseline magnitude and an alarm state set based on this determination. This alarm state may indicate that the luminophor has reached an end-of-life state or otherwise should be replaced.

A sample analysis appliance for the analysis of a sample solution, in particular of contaminated water or of waste water, with a reaction vessel for the thermal digestion of a portioned sample of the sample solution to be analyzed. The reaction vessel has an injection port for the introduction of the sample into the reaction vessel, at least one sample solution storage vessel for the device-internal storage of sample solution, and an injection syringe device which is movable between the sample solution storage vessel and the reaction vessel and which can be controlled to collect the sample from the sample solution storage vessel and introduce the sample into the injection port of the reaction vessel. At least one first and one second sample solution storage vessel are provided, and the second sample solution storage vessel is designed for the production and storage of diluted sample solution, and the injection syringe device is designed to introduce sample solution, collected from the first sample solution storage vessel, optionally into the second sample solution storage vessel for producing the diluted sample solution.

The present disclosure generally relates to a system for monitoring and/or controlling one or more agents, such as cleaning agents, in a wastewater treatment system. The system comprises a bio-electrochemical sensor for monitoring metabolic activity of a population of exo-electrogenic bacteria and providing an electrical output corresponding with the metabolic activity, where the bio-electrochemical sensor comprises an electrode pair and a power source for delivering a voltage across the electrode pair, and an electrical output analyzer for analyzing the electrical output and correlating the electrical output with the one or more agents in the wastewater treatment system. a change in electrical output beyond a threshold indicates that an adjustment in the delivery of the one or more agents is needed. a method and sensor for monitoring and/or controlling a cleaning process in a wastewater treatment system are also provided. The system, method, and sensor disclosed herein are particularly useful for cleaning membranes incorporated in a wastewater treatment process.

A total nitrogen intelligent detection system based on multi-objective optimized fuzzy neural network belongs to both the field of environment engineer and control engineer. The total nitrogen in wastewater treatment process is an important index to measure the quality of effluent. However, it is extremely difficult to detect the total nitrogen concentration due to the long detection time and the low prediction accuracy in the wastewater treatment process. To solve the problem, multi-objective optimized fuzzy neural network with global optimization capability may be established to optimize the structure and parameters to solve the problem of the poor generalization ability of fuzzy neural network. The experimental results show that total nitrogen intelligent detection system can automatically collect the variables information of wastewater treatment process and predict total nitrogen concentration. Meanwhile, in this system, the detection method can improve the prediction accuracy, as well as ensure the total nitrogen concentration be obtained in real-time and low-cost.

Method and systems for measuring growth rate in plant or aquatic animal species such as embryonic or adult fish. The methods and systems utilize the measurement of NADH.sub.2 production by detecting a colorimetric and fluorescent shift when a redox indicator such as resazurin is added to a sample. The colorimetric/fluorescent shift is indicative of the reduction of the redox indicator by NADH.sub.2. The methods and systems of the present invention may be used to predict growth potential of a plant or animal, and measuring the growth rate of said plant or animal may be helpful for identifying and selecting individuals within a group that have greater growth potential. The methods and systems of the present invention may help eliminate the need for special equipment (e.g., for measuring oxygen consumption), decrease variability of measures, and minimize the effects of external factors (feeding/hormonal status).

Systems and methods for analyzing pond water health are provided herein. A system for analyzing pond water health includes one or more of an oxidation-reduction potential sensor, a dissolved oxygen sensor, or an H.sub.2S gas sensor. The system further includes a housing containing a control module, wherein the control module is in informational communication with the sensor(s). The system is positionable over a surface of a pond, proximal to the surface, or adapted to float on the surface. A method for analyzing pond water health of water pond includes positioning the system over or on a surface of the pond, obtaining data from the sensor(s) using the control module, and generating an alert using data from the control module based on a determination that pond health is in decline.

The present invention concerns a method of estimating and optionally controlling the microbiological state in a process stream of an industrial process by measuring the concentration of dissolved oxygen or the rH value, or both, in said stream, the method including continuous or periodic sampling and online measurement. The invention also concerns a device suitable for use in implementing said method.