MANY IRISH water supplies need continuous monitoring to give early warning of pollution or bacterial contamination. Automated monitoring could help reduce health risks associated with these events.
Today marks the opening of a research unit at Dublin City University dedicated to such environmental monitoring. It should help protect human health but also offer a way to develop companies and create jobs, according to the research unit’s director, Prof Fiona Regan.
Mestech, the Marine and Environmental Sensing Technology Hub at DCU, will develop systems to provide continual, automated testing of water supplies, she said.
The same approach could be used to give early warning of flooding incidents, particularly localised events due to heavy regional downpours. It could also help monitor Ireland’s 74 blue flag beaches and other bathing areas, she added. “We are legislated to do grab sampling rather than continual monitoring,” she said.
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