STTR Phase I: Low Cost Point of Use Sensing and Mitigation of Pathogens in Drinking Water

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Program Phase I project is to develop an inexpensive point of use device that integrates onsite sensing and water purification. Water borne diseases are a major source of concern worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, gastrointestinal infections kill around 2.2 million people globally each year. The pathogenic strains of E. coli, Giardia, Salmonella, Campylobacter and others, are a major source of water-borne disease outbreaks around the world. Even low concentrations of E. coli (10-100 viable organisms) can cause human infections. Water related diseases are also a significant problem in the United States. Currently over 15 million US households obtain their drinking water from private wells that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. These sources of water are at risk for contamination and have resulted in outbreaks of sickness. This market will be addressed by providing end-users (individuals, communities) a method to assess and purify water at the point of use. The device eliminates the inconvenience of traditional water filtering and provides clean, safe drinking water to emergency responders, military personnel deployed in resource limited settings, individuals in developing areas of the world, and outdoor recreational user needs. The objectives of this Phase I research project are to integrate the newly developed point of use water sensing and purification platform to provide a technologically simple and affordable onsite solution for contaminated drinking water. While significant advances have been made in water treatment/management and sanitation, the occurrence of water-borne disease in the USA and world-wide is still significant, particularly in resource limited settings. In this system, water disinfection is achieved through field assisted photocatalytic oxidation using simple sunlight. This technology has been demonstrated to effectively inactivate Escherichia Coli and will be optimized for high throughput capabilities, as well as to treat other water borne pathogens such as viruses and protozoa. The research objectives in this proposal include reduction of treatment time (currently at 1 liter in 5 minutes) by addressing fluid flow and photocatalytic material synthesis in the device, optimization of the point of use sensing technology, and integration of the two technologies into a field deployable unit. If successful we expect a robust portable point of use sensing and water purification device with a detection limit of 1 colony forming unit (1-CFU) and 6 Log removal capabilities of various biological pathogens.