SBIR Phase I: Microbial Source Tracking for Evaluation of Water Quality and Identification of Contaminant Sources

This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I research develops a set of microbial source tracking (MST) assays providing a cost-effective method to quantify fecal contamination, identify sources of fecal contamination, and detect pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms in drinking water sources and recreational waters. Collectively, MST is an ever widening group of methods designed to detect and quantify microorganisms indicative of human or animal fecal contamination of water or foods. Although safe drinking water is nearly taken for granted in developed nations, periodic outbreaks of waterborne diseases clearly highlight the need for improved detection of fecal contamination indicators. Since contamination can result from a variety of human (wastewater treatment plants & septic fields), agricultural (confined animal feeding operations), and natural wildlife activities, source identification is the key to MST and ultimately improvement of water quality. The end result of this SBIR Phase I project will be a set of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays offering rapid and sensitive enumeration of fecal contamination indicators, human pathogens, and the ability to identify the contaminant source. Due to the important societal impact of improved water quality, the market opportunities for MST are extremely broad and encompass nearly any public or private entity with a stake in the quality of water resources.