Vikesland Contamination of drinking water is of significant concern to the water treatment industry and to the public it serves. Currently, methods for detecting the presence of Cryptosporidium and other microbial agents (including biological agents of terrorism) are inadequate for continual use. This project seeks to develop a technique to detect and quantify Cryptosporidium in drinking water using functionalized gold nanoparticles and measurement with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). If successful, this would be a significant development because a better method for rapid detection of Cryptosporidium in drinking water is needed. The investigator will work with utilities in Virginia and North Carolina to test the method in actual water plant environments.
