Molecular Sensors Supported by Optical Fibres: Empowering Communities Through Rapid, Low-Cost Drinking Water Testing

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The goal of this program is to empower people to quickly measure the safety of their own water. The research aims to develop affordable field-deployable sensors. Timely test results will have the greatest impact on low resource communities locally and globally. Empowering universal access to safe drinking water is a critical challenge for Canadian research. Contamination of drinking water by trace inorganics is a technical and humanitarian challenge impacting hundreds of millions of people. Naturally-occurring arsenic and fluoride in groundwater impact a combined 350 million people globally. Releases of metals from mine effluent (e.g. the Mount Polley Tailings Breach, and from legacy mining sites, such as the Gunnar Uranium Mine in Saskatchewan and the Giant Mine in NWT) lead to surface water contamination. While diverse technologies exist to remove these trace contaminants from drinking water, many communities suffer from an information gap around water quality due to a lack of low-cost field measurement technologies, with devastating long-term public health consequences. To tackle this challenge, two streams of research will develop sensors for these major contaminants, starting at different stages of development based on the current state-of-the-art in chemistry and technology: 1)Exploiting surface-attached, fluoride-selective chromophores on optical fibre sensors to detect fluoride at low (1 ppm) concentrations without the need for liquid reagents; 2)Development and surface-attachment of new mercury-free, arsine-free, selective, photoresponsive/fluorescent chromophores for arsenic. We will take a molecular approach to the detection of critical water contaminants. The novelty of this program lies in the replacement of existing impractical fluoride sensing systems and molecular design for selective binding and sensing of arsenic. Using optical fibres as low-cost sensor interfaces will allow real-time monitoring of water quality. The work under this DG will be extended by partnerships for field deployment in remote and low-resource contexts, which will inform targeted development of treatment strategies and technologies both in our research group and the broader water treatment community. Overall, this program will provide a unique, interdisciplinary environment for budding researchers in the Canadian system, training technical leaders equipped to tackle the complex engineering, chemical, and public health challenges of the 21st century. Collaborations with civil engineers, green chemists, toxicologists, public health experts, community and industry stakeholders will provide the tools to address the global imperative of providing safe, secure drinking water to all people.