In recent years, new technology has enabled researchers to find far more information about which substances are in groundwater and drinking water than has been possible up until now. Especially the so-called HRMS analyses (high-resolution mass spectrometry) are useful as they can, in principle, identify all substances in a water sample and thus give the sample a form of unique chemical fingerprint.
However, it differs, which HRMS methods laboratories use, and this makes it difficult to use the results actively. Therefore, a large number of Danish and German players have joined forces in the AQUAPLEXUS project, where the aim is to develop and standardise work processes and methods for analysis to ensure consistent results. Innovation Fund Denmark is investing DKK 13.75 million in the project.
”We see a huge market for standardised HRMS analyses in the future. Not only in Denmark, but throughout the world, where the demand for increased knowledge about substances in environmental samples is increasing. There is currently no standardised approach to this type of analysis, so the AQUAPLEXUS project developing a validated and standardised method is exactly what we need to make the method commercially available,” says Peter Bondgaard Mortensen, Head of Development at Eurofins Miljø, who participates in the project.
The AQUAPLEXUS project has three elements: a chemical analysis method, a data archive and a prioritisation tool.
- Chemical analysis: Development of a validated standardisation, from sampling to the result of the analysis. This is meant to ensure the quality of the results from HRMS analyses while making the method commercially available to all players in the groundwater-drinking water value chain.
- Data archive: Although HRMS analyses can identify virtually all substances in a sample, they cannot do so at once. It is therefore essential to be able to save results and make them available to the outside world. This is done by establishing a national data archive for storing results from the standardised analyses. The data archive will be available on existing platforms, such as the Danish Environmental Portal and GEUS’ Jupiter database.
- Prioritisation: HRMS analyses can provide a lot of information about which substances are found in a water sample, but not about the quantities, where they come from, or whether the substances are a problem in relation to ensuring good quality groundwater and drinking water. Methods must be developed to assess concentrations and to prioritise which substances to analyse for first.
With the AQUAPLEXUS project’s tool, it will be possible to make recommendations on how the results can be used in different parts of the groundwater-drinking water value chain.
”We are looking forward to developing a tool that can once and for all provide an overview of what is in our groundwater and drinking water – while it can also be used to assess which efforts are important in relation to ensuring the water resources of the future. It will also help secure the necessary investments. It is important that we have partners from both Denmark and abroad and cover everything from analytical chemists to authorities and water supplies,” says state geologist at GEUS, Claus Kjøller, who is Project Manager.