Water monitoring
REVEALING MOUNT FUJI’S HIDDEN WATERS
bNovate’s BactoSense analysers are giving scientists live insight into Mount Fuji’s vast volcanic aquifer, helping secure safe drinking water and industrial supply in one of Japan’s most seismic regions. Annually, 2.2 billion tons of rain and snowfall seep through the multi-layered lava gaps of this emblematic stratovolcano to become clean springs and well water. A team led by Prof. Dr Oliver Schilling (an Assistant Professor of Hydrogeology at the University of Basel), has been combining advanced tracer science with sophisticated mathematical models to understand the complex hydrogeology of the volcanic groundwater system. Changes in the microbial composition of the drinking water well are now continuously monitored with BactoSense.
F
or the great many people who rely on the source of Mount Fuji’s water, including numerous industries, Prof. Schilling (together with Dr. Stephanie Musy, Dr. Yama Tomonaga & PhD student Friederike Currle) is working hard to understand the evolution and behaviour of the aquifer in the region to ensure its safeguarding. Co-funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, BactoSense is helping provide key answers, as Prof. Schilling explains: “The water quality issues at Mount Fuji are not as much a question of hygiene, but of agricultural and industrial pollution, and the steadily declining water levels in certain areas within the catchmen.” “Nonetheless, due to the intense seismic activity in the region and the increased frequency of torrential rainfall events, monitoring of the microbial load with BactoSense’s online flow cytometry will undoubtedly become a pivotal technology to guarantee the safety of drinking water in the Fuji catchment.”
In the team’s first study, they searched for patterns that could demonstrate whether there was a significant contribution of:
Groundwater from more than 100-metre-depth.
Confined aquifer to the shallow.
Unconfined groundwater and springs at the southwestern foot of Mount Fuji.
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November 2025 Instrumentation Monthly
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