The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (TOCOG), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and various individual event Unions (e.g.: International Triathlon Union [ITU]) selected Kingston, Ontario-based TECTA-PDS as the exclusive testing solution for all Olympic open-water event venues. This will help ensure water safety by testing for the presence of E. coli and Total Coliforms.
“We are thrilled that our company and products have been selected to help ensure participant and staff safety by providing rapid, on-site, accurate testing for all open-water venues during the duration of the Games,” said Douglas Wilton, president of TECTA-PDS. “The Olympics bring us all together by uniting us in the spirit of competition. We are thrilled to do our part to ensure these athletes can give their all and represent their nations in a safe environment.”
TECTA-PDS is no stranger to protecting athletes, having been the official open water testing solution for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and for all World Triathlon events since 2018. In August 2019, at the same Tokyo Bay Olympic venue, TECTA-PDS’s rapid results shut down the swim portion of the Paralympic triathlon Olympic test event warning of E. coli levels more than two-times over ITU limits. Lab-based methods did not return results quickly enough and without the TECTA-PDS technology, the swim event would have continued exposing all competitors to dangerous levels of fecal contamination.
According to TECTA-PDS, it is the only approved (U.S. E.P.A.) automated water testing method in the world, providing objective, lab-grade results in the fastest time, which can be used by virtually anyone, anytime, anywhere. Because the potential for human error has been eliminated, results are the most consistently accurate of any method on the market. Regardless of the application, TECTA-PDS ensures complete confidence in water safety.
As Canadians, when we hear “E. coli,” many of us will always remember the Walkerton tragedy that took place 21 years ago in May 2000. The TECTA-PDS solution was created in response to this very event, to help ensure a disaster like this never occurs again in any part of the world.
“Perhaps the most unique advantage of our product is its simplicity, offering the ability to be used by virtually anyone, anywhere in the world,” said Tim Adams, CMO and executive vice president of TECTA-PDS. “The opportunity to help test water to ensure people in virtually any community across the planet are kept safe from life threatening E. coli is something we’re passionate about and delighted to be able to offer.”
