Improving water quality with Trace Enrichment technology

Anatune (UK) has completed the installation and commissioning of two Trace Enrichment HPLC systems in the Netherlands. One of the systems, which were supplied to Rijkswaterstaat, is installed on a barge moored on the riverMaas close to the Belgian border, where it operates completely unattended taking 100ml water samples from the river every hour, extracting the target compounds and then measuring them using HPLC. Results are automatically communicated to Aqualarm – a system used to monitor the water quality of rivers using data measurement. Should pre-set concentration thresholds be exceeded alarms are triggered automatically.

Rijkswaterstaat’s Gerard Stroomberg commented:

“Anatune’s Trace Enrichment unit, the TE100, replaces a system that had been operational since 1992. The replacement was implemented with the minimum down time and we are very pleased with the performance of both the instrument itself and Anatune’s team. The system has already given us our first alarm for two unknown compounds that we frequently see in the river. Being able to constantly monitor these uncalibrated compounds on the new system is proof of the pudding for us!”

Bob Green, Anatune’s Technical Director, said: “I anticipate significant demand for Trace Enrichment HPLC over the next few years. Worldwide, we see an important role for the TE 100 in the protection of drinking water supplies from pollution spikes in water sources.” Anatune is also helping waste procedures to control discharges within safe agreed limits through Trace Enrichment technology, which offers increased sensitivity and robustness over conventional HPLC techniques.