The Israeli startup that invented a connected toilet clip-on device that uses AI for continuous, 100 percent passive urine analysis now is developing a mobile kit to detect chemical and biological contaminants in lakes and natural water sources in Israel.

The unique optical system is being developed by Olive Diagnostics for national water carrier Mekorot to improve the monitoring and analysis of water sources.

The development agreement, which includes an investment by Mekorot in Olive Diagnostics, was signed following a series of successful tests in the early detection of chemical and biological micro-contaminants in treated wastewater reservoirs.

Mekorot VP Engineering and Technology Yossi Jacoby says that the product will “help us locate potential threats in a timely manner and better deal with them” in order to protect public health.

Olive Diagnostics CEO Guy Goldman said, “Our optical technology for detecting molecules in liquids is attracting great interest not only from the healthcare sector, but also from other industries, such as desalination facility builders and operators, of bottled beverages producers and distributors.”

This is the eighth agreement that Mekorot has signed with startups in recent years. Since 2019. Mekorot has invested in energy management, big data, cyber defense, water quality and security, and national infrastructure maintenance startups, acquiring stakes of up to 20% in them.

Mekorot supplies more than 1.7 billion cubic meters of water to homes, agricultural fields and industrial plants throughout Israel. The company provides water and services to the private and public sectors in Israel as well as to the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, with 13,000 km of pipelines, 3,000 production and supply facilities, 1,200 drillings, 1,000 water reservoirs and pools, 40 desalination facilities, and 13 sewage processing plants.