PORTABLE WATER PURIFICATION DEVICE - Isis Project No 2710

Oxford Engineers have designed and tested a lightweight, gravity driven device for purifying water to potable standard, an ideal solution for emergency flood situations

MARKETING OPPORTUNITY

Floods are the second-most common natural disaster worldwide. Provision of drinking water for flood and emergency victims is a major logistical challenge – and not just in the developing world. In the floods of June 2007, 350,000 people were left without water after a single water treatment station was flooded in Gloucestershire. Their water was supplied by tanker transport.

Of course boiling is one way to purify water, but energy is not always available in such situations. Small-scale water filter devices are already commercially available for purifying water to potable standard, but they have a number of drawbacks:

• It is often necessary to pump by hand to produce the water;
• The volume produced is sufficient for one person’s drinking water requirements but not sufficient for washing or for a family group;
• Iodine or another chemical purifying agent is often needed, giving a taste to the water

One available product uses osmosis to produce a sugary drink in a bag, but again this gives water with a taste, each bag is for single use only and the supply of the drink is limited in volume. Even so, such bags were extensively used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the US.

Picture: flooding in Yorkshire, June 2007

THE OXFORD INVENTION

Oxford engineers have designed a revolutionary device, which is cheap, lightweight and will produce 8L per hour of potable water. This is enough to meet the drinking water needs of a group of up to 30 people. The device requires no power, pressure or pumping by hand: simply pour dirty water in at the top, and the gravity-driven device will remove all particulates before passing the water through a membrane that removes bacterial and viral contamination The clean water is stored, ready for use. A laboratory prototype has been successfully tested.

The device is entirely made of plastic, and will fold up into a small, lightweight package for ease of transport (e.g. by helicopter) and storage (e.g. by households for emergencies). It is expected to have a useful lifetime of 2-3 months. These features make it ideal for emergency situations, and military applications are also likely.

PATENT STATUS                         

This work is the subject of a patent application, and Isis is keen to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents.

Request Further Information: Project Number 2710 Portable Water Purification Device