Nanologix partners with EPA on water testing

Staff report

hubbard

Nanologix, a local biotechnology company, has partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to design a new method to protect water from dangerous bacteria.

The company, which manufactures rapid- detection petri-dish test kits at a facility here, has entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with EPA scientists, the company announced this week.

“Working with the EPA on water-quality testing is a significant milestone in our corporate development,” said the company’s chief executive, Bret Barnhizer.

The agency will use Nanologix’s patented filter- membrane technology, used in the company’s BioNanoPore test kits, to try to determine a more-efficient procedure for detecting and recovering harmful bacteria, such as E. coli and other parasites, from environmental water samples.

The EPA is under court order to develop the technology, which will help the agency gather more accurate data on the occurrence of these organisms in recreational and drinking water sources, by 2012.