LuminUltra, a New Brunswick, Canada-based innovator in microbiological monitoring and control solutions, and Microbe Detectives LLC, a Wisconsin-based pioneer in applied metagenomics services for water and wastewater systems, today announced a multi-year partnership.
Through the partnership, the two companies will combine their services to provide the only commercial offering that can measure and monitor microbiological concentration in real-time and also identify nearly 100% of microorganisms found in water and in what relative proportion. This information will make clear to water system operators both why control was lost and how to prevent similar future problems. This combined solution offering, which can both mitigate risk and reduce costs for customers in drinking water, wastewater and manufacturing industries, will be available through LuminUltra’s existing, extensive sales and distribution channels.
“Microbiological contamination of water processes can have a number of negative impacts, including infrastructure deterioration, poor product quality, environmental contamination and human health risks,” said Pat Whalen, CEO of LuminUltra. “Over the past 13 years, LuminUltra has been providing a solution that enables a more proactive approach to solving such problems. We believe that Microbe Detectives’ advanced metagenomics testing and reporting services will add significant value to our customers in helping to not only solve problems when they arise, but also prevent future occurrences.”
LuminUltra provides real-time, on-site microbiological monitoring and control products and services based on the company’s 2nd Generation ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) technology. This technology provides a fast and accurate means of quantifying total microbiological activity in water and wastewater processes, allowing operators to take real-time action to mitigate microbiological problems. When microbiological activity is detected above prescribed thresholds, Microbe Detectives can apply next-generation DNA sequencing technology and proprietary methods to identify nearly 100% of the microorganisms present, organize them based on their functional properties in a given application, and show the relative proportions of specific microorganism types present.
“The water microbiome is a fascinating, very important, and largely unexplored world,” said John Tillotson, CEO of Microbe Detectives. “This new partnership will empower innovators in water with an unprecedented opportunity to gain new insights and advance the performance of their products and systems with a single-source solution.”
