Expert Witness Journal Issue 65 February 2026 - Flipbook - Page 26
Brighton scientists to pioneer
DNA-based ‘forensic’ tool to trace
sources of water pollution
by University of Brighton
its source, helping target interventions, improve the
ecological health of freshwater systems, and reduce
risks to public health.
University of Brighton researchers are developing a
diagnostic tool to 昀椀nd human sources of pollution
in UK rivers, ensuring safer swimming and drinking
water.
Funded by the Natural Environment Research
Council (NERC), the three-year project brings
together an interdisciplinary team of experts to
create and test a 昀椀rst-of-its-kind tool which can
trace the sources of pollution in UK water bodies,
including rivers, lakes, and streams used for drinking
water supply and for recreational activities.
By using advanced DNA sequencing technology,
scientists can search the samples for bacteriophages,
which are viruses that infect bacteria and are
naturally found in the human gut and shed in our
faeces.
Dr Sarah Purnell
The new portable diagnostic technology will enable
scientists to collect and analyse water samples both
in the 昀椀eld and in the laboratory. This will be a
major improvement on the traditional water testing
technology which relies on culturing bacteria in
laboratories, a process that is slow and fails to reveal
the presence of human contamination.
Dr Sarah Purnell, Environmental Microbiologist at
the University of Brighton, said:
“
Currently, no river in England meets the ‘good
chemical status’ set by the Water Framework
Directive, the internationally recognised standard
which regulates the quality of water bodies across
Europe. Pollutants found in sewage and industrial
discharges or produced by agricultural and wild
animals continue to impact water purity, leaving
only 16% of English rivers classi昀椀ed as being of
‘good ecological status.’
Professor James Ebdon, Co-Investigator at the
University of Brighton’s Environment and Public
Health Research Group, added:
“
Led by researchers at University of Brighton Centre for
Environment and Society, the £950,000-project will
allow scientists and regulators to rapidly, accurately
and cost-e昀昀ectively trace human contamination to
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
This project aims to signi昀椀cantly improve how we
monitor water quality. By using advanced DNA
sequencing and bacteriophage diagnostics, we aim to
deliver a tool that can quickly and accurately identify
human faecal pollution. This will help regulators and
communities make decisions to protect water resources
and public health.”
24
This project is particularly exciting as it gives us
an opportunity to use the latest biomolecular tools
to advance an area of water quality management
known as Microbial Source Tracking (MST) that our
researchers have been trying to resolve for the past 25
years.”
FEBRUARY 2026
