Checklight: Mighty Microbes Glow to Keep Water Safe

It reminds us a bit of the canary in a coal mine story – throw a living creature into a dangerous situation, and if it lives, forge ahead.If it dies, oh well. Rethink strategy.An Israeli company Checklight has put this concept into practice, using the luminscent bacteria found in the sea, like on the beaches of Costa Rica, to ensure that drinking water stays safe.We’ve yet to hear about animal rights activists lobbying over the rights of bacteria, so it’s probably pretty safe to say, that Checklight’s technology is a novel solution (although it’s being done already in the sewage treatment business, they say.)What they’ve done is culled a variety of “glowing” bacteria from the sea, and when placed in a special substrate with a sample of drinking water, they glow strongly if the water is polluted. “Checklight is providing professionals who are responsible for water quality with an early warning system for testing contamination,” says Nirit Ulitzur, Checklight’s CEO, in a recent interview.The result is more or less instant, it can be done cheaply, and the bacteria are senstive to noxious toxins like lead and cadmium. Instantaneous readings for water quality are a huge concern around the world, and not only in Africa.In Walkerton, Ontario, seven people died in 2000 from a preventable E. coli infection in the drinking water. These kinds of mistakes could be avoided with Checklight’s solution. One of the prophets interviewed the company at ISRAEL21c. Click here to read the story.::Checklight