project

project scope

Wastewaters from urban communities, small scale industries, organic waste from farms, agricultural runoff, and rain storm waters containing fecal and chemical pollutants lead to plankton and macrophyte blooms in surface waters in rural and the urban-rural interface. Such environmental reservoirs can disseminate pathogenic bacteria across large geographical boundaries as water is used from ponds or rivers in rural settings for both domestic and agricultural purposes. Such microbial contamination of water resources can have a huge socio-economic impact as illustrated by the recent EHEC-outbreak in Germany. In order to minimize potential biohazard, efficient decontamination as well as detection/monitoring techniques are required.
The project goal is to establish strong scientific links between Europe and India for addressing these vital concerns on 'Water', one of the most precious resources today, in a context of growing population and global warming. The project integrates a consortium with expertise in a variety of fields to tackle the issue of microbial contamination by an interdisciplinary approach. A strong focus will be put on combining advanced on-site microbial detection tools and novel decontamination principles. New techniques ranging from sophisticated molecular biology to self-assembled devices of nanotechnology will be evaluated for this purpose, and the related knowhow will be transferred among project partners and, eventually, to external stakeholders (i.e. private companies, public agencies, and academia). An intensive program of scientific visits, exchange of students, and technical workshops is built-in for this purpose. In summary, this project will be the basis for further long-term cooperation on the implementation of integrated strategies that can be applied to specific regional circumstances for management of water quality.