PhycoSight

Benjamin Gincley Farhan Khan

The rapid proliferation of toxin-producing algae—known as harmful algal blooms—present a grave threat to inland water quality. Caused by excessive nutrient discharge into water and warming temperatures due to climate change, harmful algal blooms (HABs) kill fish and cause toxic discoloration and odor in drinking water supplies.

Environmental engineering Ph.D. candidates

Benjamin Gincley and Farhan Khan have a plan to combat the threat of HABs through the development of PhycoSight: a low cost, rapid, accurate and automated device to monitor water quality.

Continuous and autonomous monitoring would enable observation of the start of an algal bloom, providing the opportunity for decisive and strategic mitigative action to be taken. By providing early warning of an algal bloom upstream, PhycoSight would give drinking water utilities the ability to quickly take proactive measures to ensure safe drinking water to their communities.