SBIR Phase I: Effective, Affordable, UV Treatment Technology for Microbiologically Contaminated Water

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in the development of a novel inexpensive, adaptable point-of-use water treatment device. It deploys commonly used ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection technology in a simple pitcher-shaped, countertop, household appliance. It operates using electricity when available but can also be powered by a rechargeable battery.

Anyone can safely operate it to produce all the drinking water needed after a city’s water treatment or distribution systems are damaged by a flood or earthquake or other natural disaster. Thus, the product can have significant value in addressing the U.S. incident and emergency management challenges. Microbiologically contaminated drinking water contributes to more than 500,000 deaths annually.

Globally, about a billion people boil their water every day to make sure it is safe. The proposed product can meet their needs more safely while meaningfully reducing carbon emissions. This project is also in alignment with the 2022 U.S. Global Water Strategy that calls for increased water security where it is needed most.

This SBIR Phase I project will focus on the design of an instrumented UV appliance. This will be aided by light transmission modeling in non-cylindrical vessels to assure uniform and adequate exposure of water to the UV light and appropriately locating UV-C LED lamps and UV transmittance monitors to achieve those goals. The device will be experimentally tested with controlled microbial challenges with the goal of demonstrating that the appliance conforms to World Health Organization’s standards for household water treatment technologies for a broad array of contaminated water sources.

It is thought that discrete UV intensity monitoring can be correlated with UV-C dose so that performance can be adjusted for water with varying levels of microbial contamination. The appliance will also incorporate sensor capabilities to automatically log, and report use data to support the potential compilation of carbon credits.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.