Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Portable Solar Water Purification System for Public Use during Disaster Recovery
EPA Grant Number: SU836025Title: Portable Solar Water Purification System for Public Use during Disaster Recovery
Investigators: Tang, Yan , White, Dean , Surpris, Glenn , Holmes, James , Coleman, Jared , Camp, Johnathon , Fennesy, Kyle , Compere, Marc , Fugler, Mark , McCalla, Neil , Pinto, Shavin , Wong, Yung
Institution: Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2011 through August 14, 2012
Project Amount: $12,845
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2011) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Drinking water becomes critical in the aftermath of a disaster. Affected communities struggle to recover and return to normal conditions until a clean water supply is restored. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes cause negative impacts to water infrastructure. Contamination of groundwater, ruptured water distribution lines, and destroyed water treatment facilities are just a few critical factors that prevent disaster victims without access to clean water. Essential to public health, water must be provided to disaster victims and as soon as possible after a disaster. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends approximately 3 liters per day as the minimum quantity of drinking water required per person.
AquaPack, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s solar powered water purification system, is designed to provide immediate clean water in situations where it is needed. At a flow rate of 2-3gpm, the system will supply potable water to 750-1000 people a day operating sustainably from solar power. The system can also operate from an external 12V battery during the absence of sunlight. In order to provide drinkable water easily and quickly as possible, the unit is backpack portable and meets the airline luggage size and weight requirements. In addition, the device will take less than 10 minutes to set up and is designed for use by non-technical personnel. Maintenance will require periodic filter changes but the primary limiting filter is hand-washable and reuseable. Finally, as the system operates on existing and common components that will be available off the shelf, replacements will be easy to find and affordable.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Portability is an important factor in the system’s success. During Phase I, the team purchased a ruggedized waterproof Pelican case with a wheel system for use on level ground and external straps were added to convert the case to a backpack. However, because of limited budget and time during Phase I, the case was overweight and unpractical as a backpack. To resolve this, the team has begun manufacturing a custom prototype backpack out of fiberglass to have as a proof of concept for use in Phase II.
AquaPack is self-sustainable as it is powered by solar. This is a major factor in gaining a competitive advantage. Other competitors, such as Aquasun International, do not provide solar panels as standard. They rely on the user bringing a charged battery, or finding a battery at the disaster location. Sunshine Works, another competitor, do provide a foldable solar panel. However, their system costs over $10,000 and weighs over 100 lbs. During Phase I of the EPA P3 competition, Embry-Riddle’s team has already achieved a self-sustainable, zero emission system that costs less than $5000 and weighs roughly 60 lbs. Two foldable 135W solar panels are provided to power the system independently while charging a provided LiFePO4 battery pack that is used when a cloud goes over the system. Further, all system components are made with recyclable materials, including thermosets and metals.
AquaPack is comparable or better in size and weight to existing portable purification systems available in the market. Moreover, AquaPack has a flow rate that is nearly triple of every other competitor’s system and the cost of each unit is cheaper by roughly 50%. This gives AquaPack a large competitive edge because flow rate and the ability to purchase more units are closely related to the number of people who can get clean water.
Conclusions:
This project not only balances the three themes of the P3 competition, but it also positively impacts the people in affected communities sustainably. The proposed system was designed to be able to be checked in as luggage on any aircraft. This allows the system to be transported to any location around the world as quickly as possible. This minimizes the time that disaster victims are left without safe water. Since the system is able to filter water at a 2-3 gpm flow rate, the daily drinking water requirements of over 750 people are met, and with multiple units, a large percentage of a population can have a supply of clean water within hours of a disaster.
This project can also be applied to various other situations both in the developed and developing world. The system can be marketed and sold to every first responder around the world, the military, organizations that go overseas and average people who go on hiking or camping trips.
Supplemental Keywords:
drinking water, health, solar energy, water purification, membrane filtration, disaster relief, sustainableP3 Phase II:
Portable Solar Water Purification System for Public Use during Disaster Recovery | 2013 Progress Report | 2014 Progress Report | Final ReportThe 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.