Grantee Research Project Results
Integrated System for Water Disinfection and Bacteria Monitoring
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC20C0025Title: Integrated System for Water Disinfection and Bacteria Monitoring
Investigators: Sant, Himanshu J
Small Business: Espira Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: March 1, 2020 through August 31, 2020
Project Amount: $100,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2020) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR - Clean and Safe Water
Description:
Espira Inc. has developed ElectroPur, a modular point-of-use (POU) drinking water disinfection and pathogen sensing system. The ElectroPur system includes an electrocatalytic titanium-based disinfection reactor that inactivates biological pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and protozoa) through the creation of powerful oxidative radicals and a highly sensitive biological sensor that can detect a range of pathogens including E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and norovirus.
This project will support the further development and field testing of the ElectroPur system that is necessary for commercialization through achieving the following objectives:
- Optimizing the treatment conditions and residence time to ensure Legionella and mycobacteria are effectively eliminated from drinking water through meeting relevant EPA/NSF standards.
- Determining and improving the detection capability of the biological sensor for pathogenic L. pneumophilla serogroups and M. Avium.
- Scale-up the current ElectroPur design and system for validation at field sites for testing under real world conditions (with corresponding water quality, volumes, etc.). This validation will include product testing and certification of the initial product by NSF International.
While there are POU water treatment options available (reverse osmosis, ultra violet light, etc.), our market research has found that these have significant drawbacks including substantial power requirements, expensive equipment and consumables, and can waste a significant amount of water. These drawbacks make currently available POU options very challenging to deploy in off-grid communities or low resource settings that have limited access to power, funding, and water. The ElectroPur system overcomes these limitations and is ideal for use in modular-scale water systems, particularly those that rely on ground or surface water, in off-grid communities, low resource settings,or in emergency situations.
Progress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.