Imagine a smoke detector, but for your drinking water pipes. Right now, if someone tampers with a city's water supply, it can take hours or even days before anyone notices. Optisense built a compact sensor system that sits inside water pipes and watches for contamination around the clock — flagging threats in real time so operators can shut things down before tainted water reaches people's taps. It combines a fast alarm sensor with a mini-lab that can identify specific dangerous substances on the spot.
Drinking water distribution networks are vulnerable to deliberate contamination, and traditional water quality monitoring cannot detect threats in real time. Water utilities and security authorities need continuous, automated surveillance that identifies contamination events as they happen — not hours or days later after lab results come back. With water utilities spending USD 180 billion annually on production and distribution, the cost of a contamination incident (public health, shutdowns, liability) dwarfs the investment in prevention.
The project delivered 4 MiniLab prototypes (compact analytical units for substance identification), 10 EventLab prototypes (real-time contamination event detectors), an integrated system combining both into a single monitoring solution with central data server, and a validated prototype for chlorine measurement using a specialized coating integrated into the platform.
If you are a water utility responsible for supplying safe drinking water to hundreds of thousands of households — this project developed an integrated monitoring platform combining 4 MiniLab and 10 EventLab prototypes that provides 24/7 real-time contamination detection and substance identification, deployable directly in your distribution network without needing specialist lab staff.
If you are a security firm or authority tasked with defending critical water infrastructure against deliberate attacks — this project built a contaminant warning system validated by water companies in the Netherlands and Singapore that detects contamination events in real time and classifies threat substances, giving your incident response teams actionable data within minutes instead of hours.
If you are a technology integrator building smart water grid solutions — this project created an affordable optical sensor platform with dual-use capability for both security and smart grid applications, combining event detection hardware, analytical mini-labs, and a central data server into a single field-deployable package operated by non-specialist personnel.
The project objective specifically highlights that AquaSHIELD is designed as an 'affordable platform suitable for deployment in the field.' Exact pricing is not disclosed in the project data. The EU contributed EUR 786,195 to develop the technology, and the global water quality analysis market is valued at USD 3 billion annually, suggesting significant commercial opportunity at competitive price points.
The project built 4 MiniLab prototypes and 10 EventLab prototypes specifically designed for deployment across distribution networks. The integrated system architecture with a central data server is designed for multi-point monitoring. Water companies in the Netherlands, France, and Israel have provided support letters confirming market need.
OPTISENSE BV, a Dutch SME and sole consortium partner, owns the IP. The technology is based on their proprietary optical sensor platform that has already won industry awards. As the sole partner, all licensing discussions would go directly through Optisense.
Yes. The project objective states that the two sub-components have been 'tested and validated by leading water companies in the Netherlands and Singapore.' Support letters from drinking water companies in the Netherlands, France, and Israel confirm the technology addresses an unmet market requirement.
The system provides generic online real-time detection of contamination events, online monitoring of chlorine residual as an indicator for micro-biological contaminations, and rapid screening for a set of high priority threat substances. A validated prototype for chlorine measurement was delivered as part of the project.
AquaSHIELD provides 24/7 online real-time detection and event classification. Based on available project data, the system is designed to support 'rapid decision making' with continuous monitoring rather than periodic sampling, but exact detection timeframes are not specified in the deliverables.
This is a single-company project: OPTISENSE BV, a Dutch SME that is both the coordinator and sole partner. With 100% industry participation and no university or research institute involvement, the project is entirely commercially driven. While this means faster decision-making and clear IP ownership, it also means the technology validation relied on external water company partnerships (Netherlands, Singapore, France, Israel) rather than in-consortium academic rigor. The EUR 786,195 EU contribution funded an SME-2 instrument project, which is specifically designed to help innovative small companies bring near-market products to commercialization.
OPTISENSE BV is a Dutch optical sensor company — search for their commercial team via optisense.nl or LinkedIn
Want an introduction to the AquaSHIELD team at Optisense? SciTransfer can connect you with the right person and provide a detailed technology brief tailored to your specific water security needs.
