American Water Works and DuPont Qualicon Jointly Introduce New Test for Detecting Cryptosporidium in Water.

Business Editors

VOORHEES, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 2000

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) announced today that it is jointly introducing with DuPont Qualicon an easier and lower cost method for detecting Cryptosporidium parvum in drinking water.

The new test - called the BAX(R) System - is a breakthrough screening method that applies genetics-based testing to water samples for fast, accurate results. Through the use of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the BAX(R) system provides "yes-no" answers as soon as four hours after sampling, without the need for confirmation or expert interpretation of results.

"The water industry has been monitoring Cryptosporidium for the past decade," said Mark LeChevallier, Ph.D., Director of Research for American Water. "Ever since the first recognized waterborne outbreaks of Crytosporidium parvum in the 1980s, researchers have been working to better understand the occurrence and control of this organism. Until now, the test used to detect the organism in water was complicated, time consuming, expensive and did not detect all of the organisms in a sample. As it becomes more widely used, this new test will help to prevent future outbreaks of this potentially deadly organism."

"This is the first commercially available PCR-based kit for the detection of Crytosporidium parvum in water," continued LeChevallier. "We have received a patent on the primers used in the test, and are working with DuPont Qualicon to pursue EPA approval of the methodology."

The American Water Works Company has been at the forefront of Cryptosporidium research for the past decade. It developed the combined Giardia, Cryptosporidium antibody test that has become the standard method of testing used throughout the water industry.

American Water Works Company, headquartered in Voorhees, New Jersey, is the largest and most geographically diverse investor-owned water utility enterprise in the United States, serving some 10 million people in 23 states. The company is committed to providing customers with water that meets and, in most cases, exceeds the government's water quality standards. Its water quality laboratory, located in Belleville, Illinois, is recognized as one of the nation's premier water quality research centers.