AquaSift: Water Containment Sensing Ecosystem

AquaSift is an integrated system combining a microfluidic sensor, data acquisition mobile app, and web-based data logging ecosystem, which allows for quick, easy, error proof evaluation of water sources for a variety of contaminants. Our microfluidic sensor employs a three-electrode system patterned with conductive ink onto a polymer substrate, providing a rigid and durable platform that remains cost-effective and disposable. When the sensor is connected to a hand-held electrochemical analyzer with the water sample on the detection zone, various voltammetry experiments can be performed on the sensor, producing a current peak for any reducible analytes of interest. Considering that most of the communities that need these sensors lack internet access and the ability (personnel and equipment) to analyze the data obtained by the sensor locally, we have adapted the sensor to a mobile device, e.g., a cellular telephone to enable the instant interpretation of the data obtained and the mapping of the test results from different places, indicating, safe vs. not-safe water sources. This aspect of our platform could resolve the issues associated with the lack of trained personnel, which is a major and severe constraint in deploying health technology in these resource-limited regions. Using this platform, we have successfully demonstrated the detection of arsenic and nitrate, and the automatic interpretation and mapping of the detection results via a mobile application. In addition we employed our platform to investigate arsenic concentration in drinking water on-site in the arsenic affected area of the North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, India.