Modern Water’s Attendance at World Water Week

At the end of August, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) brought us all to Stockholm for the second week of their annual World Water Week conference. The week attracts a diverse mix of participants from many professional backgrounds and every corner of the world. This year Modern Water and Microsaic had the privilege of presenting in one of the talk shows at the event in Stockholm. Jon Shepherd from Modern Water and Victoria Ordsmith from Microsaic Systems discussed ‘The Fight to See the Unseen in Our Global Water Supply’, overviewing the collaboration between the two companies and their approach to better detect and respond to threats in water and wastewater.

Organised by SIWI, World Water Week has been held every year since 1991 and is the leading conference tackling global water issues. The conference welcomes changemakers from all over the world who understand that overcoming some of the greatest challenges of our time starts with water. World Water Week offers a broad range of topics all water related and brings people and organisations together to develop solutions to the challenges we face.

This year’s theme for World Water Week was ‘Seeing the Unseen: The Values of Water’, offering over 300 sessions over the 2-week conference. The conference took place both online and in Stockholm from 23rd August to 1st September. The session was broken down into three categories;

• The value of water for people and development
• The financial and economic value of water
• The value for nature and climate

Modern Water has developed and commercialised cutting-edge technology, focused on monitoring contaminated water and decontamination of wastewater, making recycling of water more efficient, for over thirty years. We have recently entered a strategic partnership with Microsaic who are a high-end technology company that develops analytical equipment. Their platform for real-time monitoring and screening allows us to characterise the key chemical contaminants that threaten whole ecosystems.

We’re really working and listening to our customers to really put together bespoke solutions for them’

– Victoria Ordsmith, Microsaic

The Modern Water and Microsaic collaboration offers an automated real-time contamination detection range of equipment, including the new Microtox PD, for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 hotspots and other pathogens in wastewater. As well as the Microsaic screening platform for a variety of applications and use cases, such as real time PFAS monitoring, we are now pioneering a ‘Lab in Van’ platform to deliver data for a variety of tests to customers on a ‘test as a service’ basis.

The priority of this partnership is to integrate instrumentation and artificial intelligence (AI) based software to speed the process of smart detection of the unseen threats in our water. With the combined offerings and expertise from Modern Water and Microsaic we can help utility companies, environmental agencies and industry trying to do better when it comes to the environment.

View Modern Water and Microsaic’s talk here.

With over 300 sessions spread across 2 weeks, there was a lot on offer at World Water Week 2022. With all presentations and discussions aimed to shine a light on seeing the unseen and understand the value of water. Here are a couple takeaways from the conference in relation to wastewater management and contamination detection;

• Use of AI and Digital Twins –
  • There is a noticeable increase in the use of AI when it comes to routinely model systems, with the implementation of digital twins. However, to validate and refine these models, Real-Time data is required. Currently technology providers are struggling to find available data or companies to work with and in many cases, tell us that the data for remote monitoring of contaminants in our water doesn’t currently exist. With the combination of the Microsaic and Modern Water lab in the van and EcowaterOS, real-time datasets can be provided to fill this gap. When this real-time data is implemented into the wider digital twin it becomes easier to predict and model critical parameters for detection, control, and treatment.
• Global challenges in contamination –
  • There is an increased awareness and focus on the contamination of our global water supplies and in response governments are increasing legislation and fees for polluters. It was made evident at world water week that there is a real need for the detection of these contaminants and novel means of measuring them. With detection of pathogens, agrochemicals and PFAS all being high on the agenda. There were many solutions put forward to tackle this problem and it is apparent from this conference that there is a lot that can be learnt from the initiatives that have been implemented already in developing countries. At Modern Water and Microsaic our focus is on utilising our online and point of need technology to really be able to see the unseen in real-time and take action when we need to.

We mustn’t forget that out of sight does not equal out of mind – Jon Shepherd, Modern Water

Modern Water and Microsaic would like to thank the SIWI for allowing us to speak at World Water Week 2022. Thank you to Åsa Wallin, our host for the talk show and all the organiserS of the event. If you missed us at World Water Week, please make sure you watch the talk online here. To learn more about our solutions-based platforms contact us directly or see us at an upcoming conference, Microsaic and Modern Water will be attending WEFTEC in New Orleans and WWEM in Telford, UK during the month of October.