19 Biofilms form on the inner surfaces of drinking water infrastructure and play a major role in water quality deterioration, biofouling, corrosion, and discolouration events. Despite their importance, there is currently no widely deployable technology capable of continuously detecting and characterising biofilm growth in situ and in real time within operational water systems. Instead, current methods rely on removing samples for laboratory analysis, which is expensive, labour intensive, and unable to provide continuous monitoring. This creates a significant operational and knowledge gap, leaving water companies to respond to issues rather than prevent them. An NBIC-funded Proof of Concept project brought together the University of Sheffield, Cura Terrae Water, and Water Industry Process Automation and Control (WIPAC) to tackle this challenge. The University of Sheffield contributed expertise in hydraulics, sensing technologies, impedance spectroscopy, and biofilm science, while Cura Terrae Water and WIPAC provided industrial insight in environmental sensing, instrumentation, and practical deployment within the water sector. Together, the collaboration set out to develop robust, low-cost sensing technologies to transform monitoring and management of critical water infrastructure. Before the project, the underlying sensing principles had been explored in other environmental engineering contexts but had not been adapted or tested for biofilm monitoring in drinking water systems. A key barrier was the absence of an experimental platform capable of growing realistic biofilms under controlled hydraulic conditions while simultaneously collecting electrical impedance measurements. There was also significant uncertainty as to whether biofilm growth could be reliably linked to measurable electrical signatures. The NBIC funding enabled the design and construction of a bespoke experimental bioreactor capable of generating drinking water biofilms under realistic hydraulic conditions while testing novel Real-Time Biofilm Monitoring for Safer Drinking Water electrical impedance sensors in real time. The project demonstrated measurable relationships between biofilm development and electrical impedance behaviour, while also identifying critical engineering challenges affecting signal quality, including cable parasitics, sensor degradation, and bubble formation, all of which now inform the next stage of design. Kieran Williams, Managing Director at Cura Terrae Water said: “NBIC’s support was absolutely critical in allowing us to take an idea with real potential and turn it into something tangible and testable. It gave us the space and resources to bring academic and industry expertise together, de-risk the concept, and build a platform that puts us on a clear path toward real-world application.” Through this backing, the project progressed from a conceptual idea to a validated experimental platform with clear development pathways. This has strengthened the collaboration, generated a substantial experimental dataset, and created a foundation for future intellectual property and commercialisation opportunities. The technology offers the potential for earlier warning of biofilm accumulation, enabling more proactive infrastructure management, reducing maintenance costs, improving water quality outcomes, and supporting safer drinking water. Example output demonstrating consistent change in electrical signature as biofilm grows over a 4-week period. Dr Andy Nichols, University of Sheffield Kieran Williams, Managing Director at Cura Terrae Water Dr Katherine Fish, University of Sheffield Dr Jonathan Davidson, University of Sheffield Oliver Grievson, Group Manager at Water Industry Process Automation and Control Sonja Ostojin, Head of Innovation at Cura Terrae Water 19 CASE STUDY
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