Development of algae-based living sensors for water quality monitoring

• Main Author: Pang, Jerica Shi Hui
• Other Authors: Dalton Tay Chor Yong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138410
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Water pollution is a common problem in developing countries. With nearly 2 billion people not having access to clean water, water quality testing is essential for developing countries to ensure the health of its people. Commercialized water test kits and laboratory testing may not be the most feasible and cost-efficient methods for developing countries to use for water testing. Therefore, there is a need to develop an algae-based living sensor for water quality monitoring that is inexpensive and portable. In this project, Phaeodactylum tricornutm (P. tricornutum) is the choice of microorganism for experiments. Phaeodactylum tricornutm is a marine alga that is sensitive to its environmental conditions and can be a good indicator of the health of seawater. In this project, studies of encapsulated P. tricornutm were conducted over a period of 7 days. Results have shown that encapsulated P. tricornutm can stay alive in seawater conditions for up to 14 days. A minimum of 50 beads was required to provide a good correlation between autofluorescence and cell densities of diatoms. Toxicological assays were conducted and it was discovered that encapsulated diatoms can accurately detect a change in the environment within 24 hours.