One-to-Nine Single Spectroscopic Intelligent Probe for Risk Assessment of Multiple Metals in Drinking Water

26% of the world's population lacks access to clean drinking water; clean water and sanitation are major global challenges highlighted by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, indicating water security in public water systems is at stake today. Water monitoring using precise instruments by skilled operators is one of the most promising solutions. Despite decades of research, the professionalism-convenience trade-off when monitoring ubiquitous metal ions remains the major challenge for public water safety. Thus, to overcome these disadvantages, an easy-to-use and highly sensitive visual method is desirable. Herein, an innovative strategy for one-to-nine metal detection is proposed, in which a novel thiourea spectroscopic probe with high 9-metal affinity is synthesized, acting as "one", and is detected based on the 9 metal-thiourea complexes within portable spectrometers in the public water field; this is accomplished by nonspecialized personnel as is also required. During the processing of multimetal analysis, issues arise due to signal overlap and reproducibility problems, leading to constrained sensitivity. In this innovative endeavor, machine learning (ML) algorithms were employed to extract key features from the composite spectral signature, addressing multipeak overlap, and completing the detection within 30-300 s, thus achieving a detection limit of 0.01 mg/L and meeting established conventional water quality standards. This method provides a convenient approach for public drinking water safety testing.