Water quality app to map UK and US beaches after sickness reports

Molendotech, a spinout from the University of Plymouth, has developed a portable water testing device called Bactiquick that detects harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Pseudomonas, Legionella, and salmonella in water within minutes, using a color-change reaction converted into electrical signals and a numerical readout. The device, launched in May 2025, costs £300 per unit and about £25 per test sample, and works with a smartphone app that uses a traffic light system to indicate risk levels based on UK and EU water quality thresholds. The company is now developing a live water quality mapping app that will collate data from daily water tests, rain flow, and tidal flows, using artificial intelligence to create predictive models for waters across Britain and the US, with a launch planned for October. This initiative comes amid increasing public concern over water pollution and sewage spills in the UK, which have contaminated rivers and coastal waters, leading to numerous reports of illnesses among beachgoers. For instance, the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage has received 164 reports of sickness so far this year, including gastroenteritis, ear and skin infections. Simon Jackson, professor of environment and human health at Plymouth University and chief scientific officer of Molendotech, founded the company in 2018 after his stepdaughter developed conjunctivitis and a throat infection following a sea swim. He notes that current standard testing methods take 24 to 48 hours to deliver results, whereas Bactiquick provides real-time results, allowing for more timely warnings. The company has tested the device on beaches with official 'excellent' ratings and found high-risk bacteria levels, and conversely, on 'poor' rated beaches it sometimes found good quality, highlighting the infrequency of current testing regimes (at best once a week). Molendotech has received £1.4 million in grant funding from Innovate UK and others, works with UK water companies and local authorities, and recently raised £860,000 from investors including the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund and QantX, bringing total investment to £2.4 million. The company plans to expand into North America, New Zealand, and Australia, and has a distributor near the Great Lakes in the US. With climate change warming waters, Jackson also warns of the emergence of Vibrio bacteria species in UK waters, which can cause serious infections, as seen in recent cases in Louisiana.