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Crayfish staff help Czech brewery keep
its water as pure as can be
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 [September 28, 2017]
PROTIVIN, Czech Republic (Reuters) -
Crayfish equipped with high-tech sensors have been drafted in by a Czech
brewery in its quest to keep their water supply pure.
The Protivin brewery in South Bohemia has placed the creatures, which
react quickly to changes in their aquatic environment, in fish tanks
through which is pumped water from the same natural source that the
brewery uses.
The animals are fitted with infrared bio-sensors which monitor their
heartbeat and movement. Data is analyzed by a computer, and any changes
in the animals' body or behavior flags a change in the purity levels of
the water in its tank.
"When three or more crayfish are moving or change their pulse activity,
we know that the water parameters have changed. We can react quickly
because we have the result within three minutes," head brewer Michal
Voldrich told Reuters.
The water system was developed and patented by scientists at the Faculty
of Fisheries and Protection of Water at South Bohemia University at
Vodnany.
"We are using crayfish like a living chemical laboratory – like a bio
indicator and bio sensor together," said Pavel Kozak, Director of the
university's Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology.
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A crayfish rests on a bubble filter inside a fish tank in a
laboratory of Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters in
Vodnany, Czech Republic, September 26, 2017. Picture taken September
26, 2017. REUTERS/David W Cerny
"The crayfish react very fast on any non-specific change, which is
different than any other detectors, which react fast on a very low
concentration (of pollution) but only on one specific agent."
Researchers aim to upgrade the technology used in the scheme, and
plan to use special cameras to monitor the animals' hearts.
Scientists use naturally occurring crayfish populations in bodies of
water as a method of studying water pollution, effectively turning
the animals into bio-sensors.
(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London;
Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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