A group of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Physical Measurement Laboratory’s Sensor Science Division is part of a project that will have a direct effect on improved safety of the nation’s drinking water.Recent changes in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s surface water treatment rules mandate, among other things, more aggressive monitoring and control of various pathogens, notably including Cryptosporidium. That microbe, which can cause severe illness or death, is highly resistant to chlorine-based disinfection practices. As one means to reducing the threat, the EPA has called for treating water with ultraviolet radiation, which also serves
