Summary

Aging water infrastructure across the United States still contains significant amounts of components that contain lead. There are many old service lines in use that are made of lead and other components, such as elbows and solder, containing some lead that leaches into the drinking water. The negative health impacts of lead are primarily attributed to chronic exposure to sources with undetected lead, which are particularly troublesome and problematic because of the neurological damage to children. Current lead testing methods are either accurate, expensive, slow, and difficult; or low-cost, fast, easy to use, and notoriously inaccurate. The frequency of current testing is inadequate. The regular use of the researchers' handheld lead tester—even if intermittently—virtually eliminates the chance of chronic exposure to undetected lead, thereby accruing significant and predictable public health impact, especially in those locations at the highest risk. The researchers propose addressing the above unmet need by increasing access to quantitative water quality monitoring with a low-cost, easy-to-use, and accurate handheld lead test kit for rapid detection of total lead in drinking water. The handheld lead testing kit combines a novel proprietary sensor chip with nanoscale thin film coatings in a proprietary test cell with a portable meter that communicates via Bluetooth with a smartphone app for direct readout of testing results. The Phase II project successfully develops a minimum viable product that leads to some initial sales orders by early adopters and potential business partners. A proprietary and novel solution for dissolving particulate lead is developed, and market research is conducted through a beta-testing program using prototype devices. The researchers successfully transition from lab-scale production to pilot-scale production. As part of the commercial readiness pilot (CRP) program, the researchers will scale up manufacturing beyond pilot scale, conduct additional product development based on feedback received from initial customers, and carry out field validation conducted as part of the beta-testing program. Product and method certifications will be obtained to ensure that customers testing for regulatory compliance purposes are able to use the researchers' product. Scaling up manufacturing will lead to reduced variability, reduced costs, and the ability of the researchers to fulfill larger orders. The researchers will continue to engage in market planning and research to better understand their current target markets and to learn of new target markets.