User: Vani Mohit (Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs)
Many organizations in Québec and Canada, such as municipalities, watershed agencies, consultants, and provincial and federal governments, use microalgae called diatoms to assess the quality of water bodies. Diatoms are collected by scraping the brownish/slimy layer covering the bottom of water bodies, and then a microscope analysis is used to estimate water quality based on the species present, each of which is adapted to specific environmental conditions. However, the high cost and time delays in obtaining results hinder the widespread use of this approach in the regular monitoring of water bodies in southern Québec.
This project aims to evaluate diatom DNA as an alternative or complement to microscopic analysis, with DNA analysis costs approximately ten times lower per analysis compared to microscopy, and turnaround times approximately half as long. By reducing analysis costs, this approach would make regular monitoring of water bodies more affordable and enable a greater number of organizations, even those with limited budgets, to use the IDEC tool to assess water quality.