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Dr Xiaoran (Daisy) Chu’s talk on “Persistence of potentially toxin-generating cyanobacteria in drinking water treatment plants across Eastern Australia” is part of the industry project “Advanced diagnostics and treatment strategies to mitigate the risk of algal growth and accumulation within water treatment plants”. The authors analysed 10–30 years of historical data from 16 DWTPs across eastern Australia, examining how algal and cyanobacterial communities evolve as water passes through treatment processes. The findings revealed that while treatment barriers substantially reduce cell numbers and cyanotoxin concentrations, potentially toxic cyanobacteria such as Pseudanabaena, Planktolyngbya, and Aphanizomenonaceae can still be detected in post-filtration stages and supernatant return streams. The next phase of this work will apply multivariate statistical models to explore how operational factors, hydraulic conditions, and water quality influence cyanobacterial persistence, providing a more comprehensive understanding of how to mitigate risks within treatment plants.

Dr Fitri Widhiastuti presented her latest work on “Integrating Cyanotoxin Detection using LC-MS Triple Quadrupole with Cell Viability Assessment”. Her presentation spotlighted a highly integrative approach to monitoring harmful cyanobacteria, a pressing global issue as climate change accelerates freshwater bloom events. Fitri’s work bridges cutting-edge analytical chemistry with environmental toxicology by combining Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) Triple Quadrupole technology and flowcytometer for cell viability assessment.

The method improves detection accuracy for cyanotoxins and enables real-time assessment of their biological risks, supporting early warning systems for water safety.