EcoAlert Ltd.

EcoAlert Ltd.

We are a spinout company from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, set up to commercialise a novel biological marker for identifying the ecological health of water bodies by measuring the health of key natural bacteria. The use of bacteria provides many advantages in terms of sensitivity, speed, and especially the ability to measure integrated effects over time.

The EcoBox is a sensitive and rapid testing process using captive bacteria that can be applied universally across all types of water bodies, from Open Ocean to underground pore-water. The selected bacteria are all naturally occurring, non pathogenic species that are chosen for the specific habitat being measured, depending – for example water salinity and temperature.

Testing for "Good Ecological Quality" is a requirement of the new Water Framework Directive (WFD) legislation currently being implemented across Europe. The EcoBox test is currently being assessed by a number of agencies and commercial products will be available towards the end of 2007.

Potential users of EcoBox

The need for the environmental monitoring of aquatic bodies is global and covers a very wide range of activity. Examples of potential users are:

• Industrial producers – especially pharmaceutical and chemical production sites
• Water Authorities – both fresh water reservoir and waste water management
• National Environmental Agencies and government departments
• Developers and major civil engineering / infrastructure construction sites
• NGO Environment Agencies (e.g. English Nature, National Trust, WWF, FoE)
• Research and testing institutes
• Centres for higher education
• Local Authorities
• Environmental Consultants and remediation companies
• Disaster relief and Development Aid agencies

EcoBox has a solid potential to become a cost effective field or laboratory test for identifying all types of water bodies that may be at risk. This versatility makes it a valuable tool for environmental quality assessment, which can be very attractive for organisations required to comply with environmental legislation or self-assessment permits.

We are in discussions with a number of industrial companies, including a major pharmaceutical producer, a large water utility and an aquaculture specialist, to develop parallel testing trials as part of their array of ecotoxicological tests.

Please fill out the Enquiries page if you are interested to know more about this exciting new technology and would like us to contact you.