University of Surrey
Research at the Robens Centre for Public Health, University of Surrey, focuses on the factors that affect the microbiological quality of water and its impact on public health.
Under this general heading our work covers a number of topics:
- microbial risk assessment
- water quality monitoring for management
- sanitary risk assessment
- analytical method development
- coastal management
- the fate and mobility of pathogens in the environment.
The Robens Centre for Public Health, together with the Centre for Environmental Health Engineering, also at the University of Surrey is the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for the Protection of Water Quality and Human Health.
Role in the project
Surrey’s role in the project is primarily to validate and field test the Aquatest device. The validation will be carried out in several stages.
- First the device will be tested in the laboratory to ensure that it is robust and that it produces reliable results.
- The device will then be field tested in the UK before progressing to field trials in India and South Africa.
- A second part of our work is to develop and test a decontamination procedure for the device so that it can be rendered safe after use.
People involved
Dr Steve Pedley
Sub-task Leader
Dr Pedley is a microbiologist with over 25 years experience of research and consultancy work. He has been manager of the Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health for over ten years. During this time, he has specialised in water quality, pollution control and public health.
He has extensive experience in bacteriological and virological techniques, and public health microbiology related to water quality. He has carried out research and consultancy projects on behalf of many agencies for example:
- United States Environmental Protection Agency
- World Health Organisation
- United Nations Environment Programme
- Department for International Development
- Save the Children Federation
He has worked on a number of water quality monitoring and assessment projects, including:
- Assessments of national and local capacity in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Qatar
- Infrastructure development in The Gambia, Ghana, Uganda, Costa Rica, Turkmenistan and Mauritius.
Dr Katrina Charles
Research Fellow
Katrina Charles is an environmental engineer and microbiologist who is interested in understanding the transmission of diseases via the environment, and using that knowledge to help prevent waterborne outbreaks. She has been a research fellow with Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health since 2005 working on diverse projects ranging from the role of colloids in the transport of viruses in sandstone aquifers to studying the impact of climate change on water and sanitation systems and waterborne diseases.
Dr Charles will be involved in the development and testing of the disinfection procedure for the device so that it can be rendered safe after use.
John Elliott
Research Assistant
John Elliott graduated with an Honours Degree in Microbiology from the University of Surrey in 2004. For the past 5 years he has been working at The Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health as a technician in the water microbiology laboratory. During his time at Robens he has gained extensive experience of analysing water samples for indicator bacteria including E. coli by membrane filtration and Colilert/QuantitrayTM.
John will be involved with validating the media and device in the UK and overseas.