Electrochemical Pump Driven Individual Water Purification Device

Clean, microbiologically safe drinking water is a critical requirement for warfighter sustainment on the battlefield. When access to potable water is limited during dismounted on-the-move-missions, soldiers must make water from local sources using an Individual Water Purifier (IWP). However, currently used IWP technologies such as iodine, chlor-floc tablets, and commercially available IWPs do not meet the DoD’s requirements for a hands-free, in-line water purification. Filtration-based methods of disinfection possess many advantages over chemical methods but require significant user effort and frequent filter maintenance when operated with turbid water. Lynntech’s solution is to utilize a high efficiency electrochemically-actuated pump to generate the pressure needed for effortless water disinfection through filtration. The novel pump is compact, lightweight, and is sufficiently low power to exceed the 135 L purification target on a single CR123 battery and enables novel design features such as disassembly-free filter maintenance and process failure indication. The Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of a breadboard electrochemically-actuated pump integrated with an IWP to meet the DoD’s performance requirements. During the Phase II, a prototype device including control electronics, user interface, and safety features will be prepared for NSF P248.