2009 press releases
Posted 21 December 2009
Novel Means of Treating Cryptosporidium in Water Developed at AIT
A novel means of killing the water bug Cryptosporidium has been developed at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT). The radical new approach to water treatment was investigated by Dr Mary Garvey, who conducted the research for her doctoral studies at the institute.
Dr Garvey’s research utilised ultra-short bursts of pulsed ultra-violet light lasting 1/1000th of a second to treat the water. Up to 100 bursts were delivered per second, with each burst being 50,000 times the intensity of sunlight. Her research concluded that this next-generation approach produced rapid destruction of Cryptosporidium in water in a highly energy efficient manner.
While further studies are required to confirm efficacy of the approach at full scale water treatment plant level, Dr Garvey believes that her findings will impact positively on public health and quality of life by safeguarding the quality of drinking water supplies in Ireland.
“Cryptosporidium has proven notoriously resistant to the usual means of disinfection with chlorine in drinking water treatment plants. Numerous factors have hindered the development of alternative methods of treating the parasite, but this research takes an alternative approach and builds on prior successes in using low- and medium-pressure UV technologies,” she said.
“Our findings revealed that unlike conventional disinfection approaches, the PUV-treated oocysts or reproductive germ cells are unable to repair themselves post-treatment. In other words, what you treat is what you kill, with no evidence of recovery and repair. This is a major step forward in ensuring safe drinking water, which has obvious national and international implications,” she stated.
AIT President, Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, congratulated Dr Garvey on her landmark study. “This is a significant contribution to environmental research in Ireland, which will be of interest to local authorities, environmental health specialists, as well as to the general public. Mary’s timely PhD study is the first to emerge from the Department of Nursing and Health Science at the institute and underscores the growing research activity in Athlone. Our heart-felt congratulations go to Mary herself and to her supervisor, Dr Neil Rowan, Director of the Biomedical and Health Science Research Group,” he said.
Dr Garvey’s doctoral thesis was funded under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) STRIVE (Science, Technology, Research & Innovation for the Environment) PhD programme. The research also generated a number of academic papers which were published in three major scientific journals. Dr Garvey earned the prize for best speaker at the seventh annual EPA doctoral and post-doc seminar held recently in Dublin.
Originally from Granard, Co Longford, Dr Garvey is the daughter of John and the late Josephine Garvey.
