High-Throughput Real-Time PCR System for the National Wastewater-Based Epidemiology Laboratory for Wales

Bangor University (“the University”) operates the national wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) laboratory for Wales within the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences. The laboratory is in the last staged of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation. It delivers routine surveillance of pathogens, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and other public-health markers in wastewater, working with Public Health Wales, the UK Health Security Agency, Welsh Government and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Results inform public-health decision-making, so data quality, traceability and turnaround time are critical. The laboratory also supports a wide research portfolio in environmental microbiology and One Health. This includes AMR surveillance, recreational and shellfish water quality, and pathogen fate in rivers, coastal waters, sediments and soils. The University wishes to purchase a high-throughput, low-volume real-time PCR system that can measure a large number of samples against a large number of assays in a single run (a sample × assay matrix). The system must deliver quantitative data of a quality suitable for accredited reporting. The aims are to:

• substantially increase the number of targets measured per sample without loss of

quantitative performance;

• reduce hands-on time, plate handling and per-result reagent cost;
• shorten the time from nucleic acid extract to reported result;
• provide a flexible, open platform that can absorb new targets (e.g. emerging pathogens or

new AMR genes) quickly; and

• maintain or improve the data integrity and traceability needed for ISO/IEC 17025

accreditation.