Smelly Paint: Why We Must Keep Microbes out of Chemical Products
Painting is a hobby for some and a tortuous task for others. Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, nobody likes it when paint smells. If you’ve never... Read More
LuminUltra Blog
Singapore MPA Selects Aqua-Tools (formerly a LuminUltra distributer) B-QUA Kit for Ballast Water Testing
French water microbiology expert aqua-tools (formerly a LuminUltra distributer) has won a tender to supply Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) with its B-QUA ballast water test kits. A... Read More
Hurricane Season
With the start of the 2018 hurricane season right around the corner, many people living in the Caribbean and along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of... Read More
Most Wanted Microbes – Brain-Eating Amoeba
From the editor: This is the seventh post in an ongoing series profiling microorganisms of particular significance in water and wastewater systems. In this series we will cover... Read More
Hidden in Plain Sight – Nitrifying Bacteria in Monochlorinated Distribution Systems
If you are using heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs) to identify nitrifying bacteria – you won’t find them. As it mentions in the name, HPCs only measure heterotrophic bacteria.... Read More
Most Wanted Microbes: Cryptosporidium
From the editor: This is the sixth post in an ongoing series profiling microorganisms of particular significance in water and wastewater systems. In this series we will cover... Read More
Most Wanted Microbes – Nitrifiers (a.k.a. Nitrosomonas)
From the editor: This is the fourth post in an ongoing series profiling microorganisms of particular significance in water and wastewater systems. In this series we will cover... Read More
Test your water know-how
Everyone loves quizzes, right? Right. So, in honour of our 15th anniversary here at LuminUltra, here are 15 questions that’ll let you test just how much you know... Read More
Most Wanted Microbes – Sulfate Reducing Prokaryotes
From the editor: This is the third post in an ongoing series profiling microorganisms of particular significance in water and wastewater systems. In this series we will cover... Read More
Water Resources on the Web
Water is a topic that we all share an interest in. Whatever corner of the globe you’re from, water matters. This global interest is reflected in the quantity... Read More
Day Zero: When the taps run dry
May 11, 2018: The current estimate (as of February 7) for Day Zero for Cape Town, South Africa, when the municipal water distribution system will be turned off... Read More
Cutting back on chocolate this Easter? Here’s one more reason why you should
Just one week ago, on March 22nd, we celebrated World Water Day, where organizations, companies, and individuals from around the globe drew attention to the importance of water... Read More
What is a linearity check and why should you perform one on your luminometer?
Before our PhotonMaster luminometers head out the door they are all rigorously checked in our hardware lab; sensitivity and linearity tests confirm that all units meet the required specifications... Read More
The Five Step Guide to Cleaning Your Luminometer, and Why It Matters
One of the key components of any analytical method is the detector. In the case of ATP testing, that detector is a photomultiplier tube located inside the LuminUltra PhotonMaster... Read More
Aqua-Tools’ (former distributer of LuminUltra) B-QUA To Be Used In Canadian Ballast Water Surveillance Program
The Government of Canada is testing aqua-tools’ (former distributer of LuminUltra) B-QUA ballast water sampling and monitoring kit for possible use in the Canadian ballast water surveillance program. The... Read More
Most Wanted Microbes – Kouleothrix (a.k.a. Roseiflexus)
From the editor: This is the second post in an ongoing series profiling microorganisms of particular significance in water and wastewater systems. In this series we will cover... Read More
Lead in Drinking Water: Should I Be Concerned?
The water crisis of Flint, Michigan has brought the issue of lead in drinking water back into the public eye. While the overall health implications of the crisis... Read More
Paper and Microbiological Growth Don’t Mix: What You Need to Know about Paper Breaks
Water is an instrumental ingredient in the manufacture of paper products. When wood products are broken down into pulp, water is used to move the slurry onto the... Read More
Most Wanted Microbe – Escherichia coli
From the editor: This is the inaugural post in an ongoing series profiling microorganisms of particular significance in water and wastewater systems. In this series we will cover... Read More
Using 2nd Generation ATP in a Legionella water management plan
LuminUltra’s 2nd Generation ATP testing solution can be the “canary in a coal mine” when it comes to Legionella monitoring: a true leading indicator of potential Legionella issues. ATP... Read More
Hydroelectric power: Challenges in the 21st Century
Hydroelectric power has been around for a long time. You might say that, along with windpower, it’s one of the original sources of clean energy. More than 2,000... Read More
Water and the Olympics
At the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, hundreds of millions of people around the world watched as athletes competed in dozens of sports over two weeks. For... Read More
Water Associations and Foundations from Around the World
There’s a vast collection of water-related resources available online. It seems like whatever aspect of the water sector you can imagine, there is an organization devoted to its... Read More
The Cost of High Solids in Your Wastewater Treatment Plant
Conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) operate with solids (mixed liquor suspended solids – MLSS) concentrations ranging from approximately 1500 to 5000 mg/L. In membrane bioreactors (MBRs),... Read More
Drinking Water – A Global Concern
Issues related to drinking water and municipal water systems are all over the news these days. In North America, the troubles that Flint, Michigan has faced with its... Read More
Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal – Who’s doing the work?
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was first documented in the early 1970’s. Traditionally it has been understood that EBPR requires a first stage anaerobic zone that is free... Read More
Top 3 Questions from AWWA’s WQTC17
AWWA’s WQTC is a favourite event among many water quality professionals (us included) and after another excellent conference, we wanted to answer the top 3 questions we were... Read More
Thank You, Amazing Vietnam!
In November, as part of my role in developing the LuminUltra business in the Asia Pacific Region, I ventured off to Vietnam alongside nearly two dozen other Australian... Read More
How often should I measure ATP in my wastewater treatment plant?
Establishing a routine monitoring plan for ATP will ensure that you’re able to take preventative action to reduce risk. Learn how here.... Read More
How Do Microorganisms Impact Oil & Gas Extraction?
People are often surprised to learn that water is a very important part of oil and gas extraction. Sure, there is an obvious association with water in the... Read More
The Energy Footprint of Drinking Water
Drinking water and wastewater systems are generally the largest energy consumers for municipal governments. However, there is little published information available on the exact energy usage for specific... Read More
Using ATP in Suspended Growth Wastewater Treatment Systems – What is the benefit?
Suspended growth systems, such as activated sludge, are a very common form of secondary wastewater treatment. The potential to optimize and improve the operation of such treatment plants... Read More
SGS Group Orders Advanced Ballast Water Monitoring Kits as Countries Look to Enforce Compliance
aqua-tools, the specialist in water microbiology, has delivered the first in series of 30 state-of-the-art Rapid ATP Ballast Water Monitoring Systems to SGS Group. The Geneva-based testing and certification... Read More
Sewage Treatment Plants – Bug Farms and their Farmers
A colleague recently conveyed a conversation he’d had with an operator at a sewage treatment plant. Society tends to have an unfounded stigma of sewage treatment plants, so... Read More
Why won’t total microbial content decrease after UV treatment?
UV treatment only recently became widely adopted in the water and wastewater treatment industries but the benefits of sun exposure for water purification have been acknowledged for thousands... Read More
How Using ATP to Identify Sludge Bulking – What is the benefit?
What is sludge bulking? Sludge bulking is a severe problem that can plague activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). It’s been estimated that 60% of activated sludge WWTP... Read More
“Clean vs. Compliant… What’s the difference?”
Water quality regulators do their best to set policies to ensure the public has access to safe water to drink in terms of microbiological cleanliness. Despite regulations that dictate... Read More
Ontario Water Professionals Gather for May Conference and Trade Show
Ontario’s Water Conference & Trade Show 2017 is happening this year in Niagara Falls from May 7-10. This annual conference is one of the top events for Ontario drinking... Read More
LuminUltra Cloud’s real-time data analysis solves water problems on-the-spot [News Release]
Monday, April 3, 2017 – It’s now possible to keep drinking water safer and industrial and wastewater systems running more smoothly with real-time analysis of routine sampling data... Read More
Biomass Evolution in Full-Scale Drinking Water Filters
The findings of this technical paper show the utility of ATP monitoring when evaluating significant process changes, and in day-to-day operation.... Read More
How John Snow Changed the Way We Look at Water Supply Systems, Microorganisms, and Infectious Diseases with Data Mapping.
From editor: Hearing the name ‘Jon Snow’ may bring Kit Harington’s face to the forefront of many people’s mind as an important character in ‘Game of Thrones’ but,... Read More
What Is ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) and What Does It Do?
Many people know what ATP stands for, but do you know what it does? This blog demystifies this amazing energy carrier and explains why water professionals should care about... Read More
LuminUltra’s Pat Whalen among Top 50 CEOs
LuminUltra President & CEO Pat Whalen has been recognized as one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs. Whalen received the award at a gala dinner hosted by Atlantic... Read More
LuminUltra CEO Recognized as a Canadian Water Industry Innovator
FREDERICTON, NB, CANADA – June 29, 2016 – Pat Whalen, the President and CEO of LuminUltra, a New Brunswick, Canada-based innovator in microbiological monitoring and control solutions, has... Read More
3 Things That You Can Learn With ATP Testing at Your Wastewater Plant
Biological wastewater can be a be complex testing environment, but also offers the greatest opportunities for cost savings and overall optimization.... Read More
LuminUltra and Microbe Detectives Advance Molecular Microbiological Control Solutions in Water and Wastewater
FREDERICTON, NB, CANADA – June 9, 2016 – LuminUltra, a New Brunswick, Canada-based innovator in microbiological monitoring and control solutions, and Microbe Detectives LLC, a Wisconsin-based pioneer in... Read More
Is Iron in Drinking Water a Public Health Risk?
It’s long been thought that the presence of iron in drinking water is a cosmetic problem rather than a public health concern. But some scientists are now saying... Read More
5 More Common Questions That We’re Asked
After the popularity of our initial article focusing on “The 5 most common questions that we are asked“, this article picks up where it left off to cover... Read More
Putting Firefly Tails to Work in Water Treatment [via the Telegraph Journal]
Many innovations are inspired by nature – LuminUltra’s technology is no different. Find out how we use the same chemical found in a small firefly to prevent big problems... Read More
The economic case for microbiological control in fuels
Individual retail gasoline outlets can potentially increase annual revenues by as much as $30,000 per year through a more pro-active microbiological testing program using LuminUltra’s Quench-Gone Organic Modified (QGO-M)... Read More