Background Research
We began our research by examining existing water filtration systems that are used today. We learned that the most common system is chlorination.
But worst of all, chlorination has a serious health risk. When chlorine reacts with naturally occurring organic matter in water, the reaction produces disinfection byproducts including trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which are highly carcinogenic.
According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, the cancer risk for people who drink chlorinated water is 93 percent higher than those who don't.
This technique stood out to us because of its multiple advantages:
- no taste
- short reaction time that is over 3000 times as fast as chlorination
- doesn't add chemicals to the water
- cost-effective (one filtration system lasts at least five years)
- effective over a wide pH range
- strong oxidizing power that is over 150 times more powerful than chlorine
- cannot be overdosed (extra ozone becomes oxygen)
Ozonation is mainly utilized in developed countries because the current ozone filters are too expensive to use in developing countries. At this time, ozonation is primarily used in European countries and a few cities in the US and Canada.
However, developing countries have the most drastic need for clean, safe drinking water. |
We were inspired to develop a new ozone water filtration system that is cost-effective and portable and can easily be manufactured and used in developing countries.