PDS was founded in 2003 to commercialize a novel method of automating microbiological testing based on research and development conducted at Queen's University in conjunction with a number of industrial partners in the wake of the Walkerton water tragedy that occurred in May, 2000 in which 7 people died, and thousands fell ill due to E.coli contamination of the water supply.
PDS, headquartered in Kingston, Ontario, Canada was acquired by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) in early 2009. PDS's expertise in water monitoring technologies, spectrophotometry and synthetic chemistry is now supported by the resources and technologies of the world's leading water treatment company.
About us
The PDS approach adapts traditional enzyme-chemistry methods proven and accepted by regulatory authorities worldwide with an entirely automated measurement system which eliminates visual interpretation. This patented technology is incorporated in the company's monitoring system, which provides on-site microbiological testing capability with rapid time-to-results and unprecedented ease-of-use.
All current approved methods are manual, requiring specially trained staff and fixed 18-24 hours incubation delays. Most operators use 3rd-party labs that would use one of the current manual methods. The advantage of the PDS system is that operators get all the benefits of automation (speed, reliability and productivity) at a per test cost comparable or lower than the cost of using a 3rd-party lab.
PDS uses a modified spectrophotometry method enabled by a patented partitioning technology. Other attempts to use spectrophotometry to automate the standard methods have used direct measurements of the sample matrix. With the variable optical qualities of the sample matrix these attempts have suffered reliability challenges. PDS' partitioning technology overcomes these reliability challenges and thus enables a fully automated test capability.
PDS technology is approved as an alternative testing method by the Ontario Minister of Environment and has received AOAC-RI certification status. Several other regulatory acceptance processes are under way.