Urgent replacement of ICP-OES system for multi-element determination in water samples

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Freshwater resources are of immense societal, environmental and economic value for Canadians, yet the water quality in many streams, rivers and lakes continues to deteriorate due to human activities and increasing climate-induced pressures. Innovating and commercializing novel wastewater and stormwater treatment technologies as well as developing approaches to reduce pollution in natural waters is critical for safeguarding Canada's freshwater resources and supporting initiatives to strengthen our economy. Availability of a method for rapid cost-effective analysis of large numbers of water and solid samples for multiple elements including toxic metals and harmful nutrients is a critical necessity for conducting cutting edge research on water treatment technologies and remediation approaches. This proposal seeks funding for the urgent replacement of an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrophotometer (ICP-OES) system that is the only type of elemental analysis instrument that meets this critical need. Our former ICP-OES system, which reached end of life and failed after 15 years of heavy usage, was a critical instrument and workhorse for the transformative research programs led by the Western Water Centre including the applicants' research programs. ICP-OES is the most effective way to determine multi-element concentrations in samples as it is fast and cost efficient, as well as sufficiently robust for HQP to be trained on the system and independently run sample analyses. There is no other ICP-OES or similar elemental analysis instrument at Western (or in the surrounding area) for the applicants to use that is available, cost effective and has reasonable (<6 week) sample turn-around time. The applicants' research programs, which are advancing water treatment technologies with strong commercialization and spin-off potential, have stalled since our former ICP-OES system failed. It is not currently possible to achieve the outcomes of our existing programs without access to an ICP-OES system. The failure of our former ICP-OES system is also severely impacting the current training and project outcomes of over 20 HQP. Based on our prior experience, it is expected over 60 HQP will be trained on the requested replacement system over the next 5 years and gain technical and hands-on skills highly valuable for career advancement. The requested ICP-OES system is critical for supporting leading research programs that will have enormous benefits for Canada through testing and commercialization of new water treatment technologies as well as directly informing government policy for protection and remediation of freshwater resources.