SBIR Phase I: Evaluating the Feasibility of an On-site Rapid Lead Analyzer to Support Community and Rural Based Healthy Drinking Water Initiatives

This SBIR Phase I project will focus on developing and evaluating the technical feasibility of a novel device, the Lead-RR (Lead Rapid Response Analyzer), for the detection and quantification of lead in drinking water. The Lead-RR will be built upon a highly sensitive detection platform and configured for field deployment and use. The overarching goal is to provide an affordable, automated, and rapid testing analyzer for the low-level detection of lead in drinking water to enable more frequent and reliable testing to support lead remediation efforts in our water distribution systems, schools and childcare facilities across the United States. If successful, this project will result in a new lead analyzer that can help utilities to locate lead service lines and lead containing plumbing fixtures, ultimately accelerating efforts of eliminating the risk of lead exposure, and associated health issues, in our drinking water.The project specific tasks will focus on further optimizing our prototype to demonstrate technical feasibility of the analyzer for lead service line identification and public health applications. Reaction conditions, flow-rates, and component configuration will be optimized, and lab validation and interference studies will be performed for complete assessment of analyzer performance. Rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and OEM components will be integrated into the system to reduce development time and cost.