European Water Tracing Services

Founded in 2003, EWTS (European Water Tracing Services) is a very small company operating in the water and environment sector, with specific expertise in the use of tracers in aquatic environments.

Over the years, EWTS has become a renowned centre of expertise serving the private sector, consultancies, universities and public authorities. Its two main areas of expertise are currently

• Tracing techniques using fluorescent tracers, and more generally the characterisation of fluorescent substances in water.

• In-situ monitoring of quantitative and chemical parameters in water, particularly groundwater.

The company is active internationally, with regular customers in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Brazil, Australia, the United States, Morocco and Peru.

The objectives of EWTS are to :

• Solve modern water-related environmental challenges;

• Improve knowledge of hydrological and hydrogeological processes through the use of tracers in water protection and remediation;

• Developing products and services linked to the detection and quantification of tracers in water, in particular through the use of innovative sensors and telemetric techniques;

• Improve measurement practices for artificial and natural fluorescent tracers and provide a unique fluorescence analysis service;

• Disseminate tracer techniques internationally and establish an international network of hydrogeologists experienced in tracer techniques.

To this end, EWTS has invested heavily in research, teaching and international cooperation. EWTS is a scientific collaborator of the Aquapôle cluster at the University of Liège. It also collaborates with the CETRAHE R&D team at the University of Orléans, with the HydrISE research unit at the Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle in Beauvais, with the Karst Institute in Postojna (Slovenia), and with the CEHIUMA hydrogeology laboratory in Malaga (Spain).

Its administrator (Philippe Meus) is very active in the field of scientific research related to the environments concerned by the activities of EWTS. He initiated a working group on tracers in hydrogeology under the aegis of the Karst Commission of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH). In 2022, it organised international interlaboratory tests on tracer analysis.

EWTS is primarily a service company: it provides a complete package to its customers: measurement methodology, supply and installation of probes, on-line monitoring and interpretation of results.

EWTS has been working for several years with two Swiss companies specialising in the design and manufacture of Albillia field fluorometers and Tetraedre data loggers for telemetric management of in-situ measurements. EWTS also represents the American company In-Situ in Belgium and Luxembourg.

These products are now marketed by a newly created company in Belgium: Tetraedre Solutions srl.

EWTS products and services are used in a wide range of applications that are highly sought after internationally:

• Hydrogeological tracing (water catchment protection zones)

• Characterisation of karstic aquifers (e.g. Yucatan aquifer)

• Groundwater monitoring and sampling (quantitative, qualitative)

• Characterisation of polluted sites

• Mine drainage

• Monitoring of hydrogeological drilling

• Catchment remediation

• Safety of water catchments and networks (water safety plans)

• Characterisation and management of groundwater resources

• Assessment of pollution risks (including mining waste)