studying organisms that may be pres-ent in water. e goal is to enhance the reliability of the system.“Our company didn’t own a plank-ton database. is database had to be built through research, and I was placed in charge. I have cell cultiva-tion experience from my student years, but I had zero experience with plank-ton. With plankton, I had to start from scratch.”Yamagishi’s research constitutes the foundations for future projects. From the outside, Rion’s decision to appoint a dedicated staff member for plankton research may appear idiosyncratic.“Anabaena, Synedra, and Phormi-dium are examples of harmful plank-ton genera. My mission is to do research to enhance the reliability of our prod-ucts by cultivating these plankton and acquiring measurement data on them. I’ve been cultivating various species of plankton this past year. It’s not an easy task. I also think the task of acquiring data on them aer cultivation is going to be a long road. For one, I have no senior employees at the company who specializes in my eld of work. I have to take the initiative with everything I do. I appreciate the challenge, but there’s also a lot of pressure. I wonder every day if I’m headed in the right direction. My hope is that I can collect data useful for product development as soon as possible.”Although the project applies Rion’s existing technologies, it’s an example of Rion’s eorts to introduce a prod-uct to a totally new market. Kazuma Sekimoto, who has witnessed the proj-ect from start to nish, wraps up our interview.“Approximately 97.5% of the water on Earth is seawater. Only 2.5% is itself are seldom contaminated. In con-trast, the target water at purication plants is raw water—water supplied from rivers and reservoirs, the source water for tap water. at contains a lot of impurities, including sand, algae, and various plankton species. ese impurities would instantly contami-nate the pipes and the sensor unit of a normal particle counter and render them useless. To solve this problem, we implemented a function for regularly cleaning the pipes. We also developed a device that automatically dilutes the raw water to reduce particle concentra-tions to measurable levels. But the early days of our development eorts fea-tured just one failure aer another. e rst prototype was installed at a water treatment plant. Several weeks later, I went to see how the system was work-ing. I remember being le speechless at the sight of the pipes and the sample water tank inside the measuring instrument completely lined with algae. On the other hand, I was given the opportunity to see rsthand the tireless work done by the people at the water treatment plant working to maintain a continuous supply of safe drinking water. at was a great inspi-ration. And it prompted me to want to contribute to society in the same way.”Plankton Analysis—A New Research Field at RionMasumi Yamagishi was another person who dedicated herself to the project, albeit from an approach that diered completely from Sekimoto, Tanaka, and Sannomiya. In fact, Yamagishi’s eld of work at Rion is plankton research. Alongside the task of system development for water treat-ment plants, she still spends her days freshwater. And of the latter, most is xed as ice and snow in the polar regions or occurs as groundwater deep under ground. ese aren’t readily accessible sources. It is said that only about 0.02% of the total water on Earth is freshwater that’s available for human use. With the global population con-tinuing to rise and problems related to drinking water rising in severity around the world, I think technologies for water purication and ecient management of water treatment plants have huge social implications. My wish to put Rion’s knowledge, technologies, and systems to use across a wider range of applications to support human lives grows stronger by the day.”Masumi YamagishiNew Business Promotion Section, Particle Counter Division. Ever since her transfer to the New Business Promotion Section in April of 2020, she’s pursued plankton research. She has studied biology from her college years. Among the Rion staff, she’s one of a few valuable particle specialists.Organisms that causedisordersOrganisms detrimental to water purification must be detected and managed accordingly. For example, Phormidium produces 2-methylisoborneol, the substance responsible for an abnormal India ink-like odor. Unless the organism is removed during the water purication process, the odor remains in the tap water.Synedra (Filtration blockage)Phormidium(off-flavor)Picophytoplankton(filtration leakage)Microcystis(coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation inhibition; filtration leakage)5
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