UV Tube: an effective and low-cost water disinfection concept

The UV Tube technology has been developed by students in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy lab at UC Berkeley to address the dire need for treating water at the point of use level in communities that do not have access to safe drinking water. Designed to meet users’ demands while protecting health and the environment, the UV Tube offers an inexpensive and reliable method of water disinfection that does not change the taste of source water. The UV Tube technology employs ultraviolet (UV-C) radiation emitted from a germicidal bulb to effectively inactivate waterborne bacteria, viruses, and protozoa at the expeditious flow rate of five liters per minute. Constructed from low cost and local resources, UV Tubes require minimal maintenance and are simple for users to operate.

Successful pilot projects implemented in Mexico and Sri Lanka have proved the UV Tube to be an effective method for eliminating microbiological contamination in source water while demonstrating high adoption rates and user satisfaction. UV Tube projects initiated in significantly different cultural and environmental locations have required customized user interfaces unique to specific regions. For this reason, the UV Tube has become a design concept rather than a single static design, establishing its capacity to be readily adapted to meet the needs of local communities.

Project mission:

The UV Tube project strives to:
- Develop an effective and low-cost water disinfection system for underserved families and communities.
- Develop dissemination strategies sensitive to local needs.
- Spread awareness of the point-of-use approach to water disinfection and create liaisons amongst NGOs, academic units, governmental institutions, industries and communities at the grass roots level.
- Educate students on the fields of development and sustainability.

Potential impact:

In less than a year, UC Berkeley students and their collaborators in Mexico and Sri Lanka have installed UV Tubes in six rural communities, providing more than 150 families with access to safe water.

Most importantly, dissemination strategies are currently being developed with the objective of creating a sustained demand-supply model that can be expanded in these two countries.

Required resources:

1. Total project needs: $29,000
2. In-kind contribution needs: The UV Tube project is in search of: - Frequent flyer miles to support student travel from Berkeley to Sri Lanka and Berkeley to Mexico
3. Other:

   Breakdown of total project needs:

   $3,000 to develop and test a novel hygiene promotion strategy in Mexico
   $4,000 to cover costs of 20 UV Tubes in Sri Lanka, as part of the development of the dissemination strategy, directly benefiting around 150 families
   $5,000 to cover costs of 50 UV Tubes in Mexico, as part of the development of the dissemination strategy
   $7,000 to fund water quality study and long-term evaluation of UV Tubes in Sri Lanka
   $10,000 to fund water quality study and long-term evaluation of UV Tubes in Mexico

News:

• http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/success/berkeley.html
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/13/BAGUKIR4DT1.DTL
• http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/spring2006/cet.html
• http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/12_tsunamiprojects.shtml

Project page URL:

• http://uvtube.berkeley.edu/
• http://www.cantaroazul.org/
• http://www.pbase.com/amyjanel/uv_tube