New procedure revolutionizes water analysis in Lower Austria

An alarming discovery about the spread of antibiotic resistant Bacteria (ABR) in Austrian waters was recently presented by a comprehensive study by the KL Krems, together with medical universities in Vienna and Graz, and the University of Natural culture Vienna. A total of 1.3 million deaths per year are currently due to ABR, and this number could increase ten million to alarming by 2050, as the aid organization warns doctors without limits. In order to counteract this trend, an EU directive from 2027 stipulates regular monitoring in large sewage treatment plants in order to better capture the spread of the ABR, as noe.orf.at reported.

Using over 100,000 tests in rivers such as the Danube, the Kamp and the YBBS, significant findings on ABR load were obtained. The study showed that not only human wastewater is responsible for pollution, but also agricultural sources and other environmental factors, such as dangerous heavy metals. These findings show an overall low to moderate ABR strain in Lower Austrian rivers in international comparison, but the approach to combat antibiotic resistance remains an important challenge.

new measurement methods for water quality

In parallel to this study, a new procedure for the exact determination of water quality is being developed at the Helmholtz Center Hereon. The conventional chemical oxygen requirement (cod) turned out to be inaccurate because it cannot distinguish organic substances between natural and humans generated. This leads to distorted measurements that do not reflect the actual condition of the waters, such as Ingenieur.de

The new method aims to better monitor the quality of rivers and lakes, especially near industrial areas. Current tests show that the new, faster method for measuring biological oxygen requirements (BOD) is promising and provides results within two days. In this way, future measures for waters can be implemented more efficiently and their successes can be evaluated more understandable. These developments are crucial to improve the critical state of global water resources.