UV Tube
Ultraviolet Water Disinfection for Rural Communities
The UV Tube is an effective and low-cost ultraviolet water disinfection system that was developed at UC Berkeley in a joint collaboration between the Renewable and Appropriate Technology Lab and Professor Kara Nelson’s Water Quality Laboratory. The UV Tube combines effective disinfection technology with an attractive user interface. The system removes contaminants at a fast rate, requires only 15-20 watts of electricity per day, and does not impact the water taste. This technology has been piloted in rural communities in Baja California Sur, Mexico, in tsunami-affected Sri Lanka, and in Haiti. UV Tube projects initiated in different cultural and environmental settings have required customized user interface designs. Therefore, the UV Tube has not remained a static design, but has become a framework that can be adapted to meet the needs of local communities.
Mesita Azul promotion materials.: (Credit: Fundacion Cantaro Azul)
In 2006, a UC Berkeley PhD student co-founded an NGO, Fundacion Cantaro Azul, to disseminate the UV Tube technology and develop a business model appropriate for Baja California Sur. The project has supported Cantaro Azul in streamlining the UV Tube construction process and launching a comprehensive field-testing phase that will monitor the household systems. The streamlining process led to design changes that both reduce costs and increase the UV Tube versatility. The longer term vision of the UV Tube project is to develop sustainable safe water solutions that can be taken to scale by key partners. In particular, the UV Tube project seeks to complete the development of both a household and a store-based solution by the end of 2010.
Principal Investigator: Professor Kara Nelson, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Professor Isha Ray, Assistant Professor, Energy and Resources Group
Lead Researcher: Fermin Reygadas, PhD Student, Energy and Resources Group, 2010
Location: States of Baja California Sur and Tabasco, Mexico.
Partners: Fundacion Cantaro Azul; Dow Sustainable Products & Solutions Program (UC Berkeley)
“When we ask the families if they have noticed any difference, they tell us that their kids are getting less diarrhea and that having clean water makes them feel secure – it’s one less thing they have to worry about.”
— Fermin Reygadas, PhD student, Energy and Resources Group
