By : Nunuh Nugraha, Dina Angraini, dan Mustofa
Water is the essential substance in life. A large number of clean water needs, especially water for drinking, increases the demand for bottled water. Procurement of fresh water for drinking water needs must meet the requirements set by the government. Drinking water is safe for health if it meets the requirements in physics, microbiology, chemistry, and radioactive. The mandatory parameters for determining the quality of drinking water in microbiology are the total Coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli. The Most Probable Number Test does the determination of water quality in microbiology. If in 100 ml of water samples, Coliform bacterial cells are found to allow diarrhoea and other digestive disorders.
At present, to detect bacteria in ready-to-drink water requires considerable time and laboratory tests are needed, according to the three Chemistry students at the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB). According to them, a more effective and efficient tool is required to detect bacteria in drinking water. They designed an innovative portable device to detect bacteria in drinking water, with the name AJDEKTRI. This innovation was included in the Student Creativity Program (PKM) held by the Kemristekdikti. The development of this tool was guided by Dr. Eti Rohaeti, MS and Rudi Heryanto, M.Sc.
According to Nunuh, the tools they design have advantages, which are more practical because they are portable which can be carried everywhere and at a lower price. The working principle of this tool is to detect bacteria with the principle of fluorescence. This tool also uses Spectral Workbench software which is used to analyse bacteria in drinking water samples. This tool is expected to help community service institutions to check the quality of drinking water in the community, he explained..