Potatech+ Water Quality Laboratory
What is the Wagtech™ Potatech+ used for?
The Potatech+ is ideal for water monitoring for water quality programmes across multiple locations.
The latest version of the kit, originally known as the JMP kit, was designed for use by the Joint Monitoring Programme. This was a project run by UNICEF and WHO in conjunction with local partners. The programme monitors development indicators including water quality for under-served populations. Since 2016 the JMP has been tasked with monitoring progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6, which includes the target of achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030.
What is included in the Potatech+
Featuring a complete set of digital instruments the Potatech+ offers increased accuracy and precision of results and allows access to a wider range of testing parameters. The microbiological testing system enables the culture and counting of organisms indicative of faecal contamination such as thermotolerant coliforms.
Wagtech™ Microbiologicaltest system
The biological quality of the water is often the most important to establish. Exposure to microbial pathogens, such as cholera, can have rapid adverse effects on health
The Potatech features a microbiological testing system in which a water sample is vacuum filtered using a simple hand pump.
The filter membrane catches any bacteria and is then removed and positioned on top a nutrient source in a petri dish.
The petri dish is placed in a small portable incubator.
After incubation, depending upon the nutrients provided, each viable bacteria can grow to form a colony in the petri dish. These are simply counted to determine how many of the relevant bacteria were present in the original water sample.
Palintest Wagtech™ Incubator
The Wagtech™ Incubator has been specifically designed for field use, enabling microbiological testing in the most challenging of environments. With a high sample capacity, suitable for thermotolerant/faecal coliforms and total coliforms, up to 20 samples can be incubated at a time. There are various options for powering the incubator including using the 12V lead acid battery included in the kit. Using this, the digital incubator is can complete five full cycles between charges.
Lumiso Expert Photometer
The Lumiso Expert Photometer is used for testing for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and chlorine (free, total and combined). Tablet reagents are used which develop a colour when they react with the target chemical species. Lumiso then precisely measures the intensity of that colour and displays the result as a concentration of that chemical.
Over 65 other chemical parameters could be tested for on the Lumiso Expert by obtaining the appropriate reagents from Palintest.
Full, step by step, illustrated instructions for each test can be displayed onscreen.
Turbimeter Plus
Turbidity refers to the cloudiness or haziness of water caused by individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye but can scatter light.
Turbid water can provide conceal microorganisms, making it more difficult for disinfection processes (e.g., chlorination) to effectively eliminate harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Suspended particles in turbid water may also carry or be associated with chemical contaminants. These contaminants can interfere with disinfection process, reducing the effectiveness and generating potentially harmful byproducts.
The Wagtech Potatech+ is one of the only kits to offer digital testing for turbidity, ensuring accuracy and reliability. The human eye can only detect turbidity to around 5 NTU, whereas the Turbimeter Plus has a resolution down to 0.01 NTU.
Pocket pH and Conductivity Sensors
Quick and simple to use pocket sensors are included for measuring pH and Conductivity in the field.
Whilst pH itself is not a direct health concern, extremely low or high pH can affect palatability. It may indicate the presence of other contaminants and it can affect water treatment processes such as chlorination, which is less effective at high pH.
Conductivity is a measure of how well water conducts an electric current. This is directly related to the concentration of dissolved ions (known as Total Dissolved Solids or TDS). Measuring conductivity provides a simple way of measuring salinity levels and it acts as a warning trigger. If a sudden spike in conductivity occurs, it could suggest contamination events or changes in water sources