Tim Straub of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working to make drinking water safe, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency is helping him do that.

On Thursday, the agency granted him about $600,000 for a research project that will develop an automated method for quantifying and monitoring viruses in water that cause gastrointestinal illness.

"EPA wants to find out where exactly the virus comes from and how prevalent it is in our drinking water supply," said Straub, a senior research scientist at PNNL.

The grant to Straub's project was part of a $3.6 million award to academic and research institutions to improve the detection of known and new contaminants in drinking water. Montana State University was among the other grant recipients.

It's often difficult to link the incidence of waterborne diseases with their exact causes.

"By supporting research into innovative technologies and approaches to rapidly detect and identify viruses, bacteria, and chemicals in drinking water, we can prevent illness," said George Gray, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Research and Development.

Straub's research deals with human norovirus, which is transmitted through consumption of fecally contaminated water or food and by direct contact with an infected person.

An estimated 23 million cases of acute gastroenteritis are caused by norovirus infection in the U.S., the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on its website.

But it's not easy to monitor the virus, because it occurs in small quantities in a very large volume of water. So, it's possible that if two people drink water from the same source, only one may become infected with the virus.

EPA wants to help eliminate that probability factor by supporting research that makes it easier to detect the virus in water supply systems, he said.

Straub's research will help develop a mechanism for automated collection and monitoring of water samples with a larger concentration of the virus. His team will also be able to do a rapid DNA fingerprinting of the virus and find out if it's infectious or not.

Straub's study, which runs through March 2010, will eventually help water treatment facilities across the nation to monitor water supply for the virus.

Straub said human norovirus can cause large outbreaks in closed environs like that of a cruise ship. The outbreaks are cyclical and some years are worse than others.

Studies also have shown that some blood types are less susceptible to the virus, he said.