UK-based water purification tech firm Aqua 21 is seeking expertise and funding to develop small water ozonation systems that could be hooked up to mains water taps in hospitals to help disinfect surfaces.
While the COVID-19 virus primarily spreads through droplets transferred from person to person, it can be picked up from surfaces and then infect a person when they touch their face. Another potential infection vector that has some people worried is the water supply, as there is currently very limited research on whether the virus could survive in the water supply.
Hospitals and other healthcare settings routinely sterilise surfaces with cleaning agents to prevent the spread of the virus and it's believed that chlorination will keep the water supply safe, but there are other solutions. UK-based water purification tech firm Aqua 21 Ltd develops ozonation water purification systems, which produce water with ozone dissolved in it which can kill micro-organisms on contact.
This technique normally uses a lot of electricity and the equipment required to ozonate the water is typically very bulky. Aqua 21 Ltd is now aiming to miniaturise the technology so that it can fit underneath sinks in hospitals and other healthcare environments. The goal would be have taps able to deliver ozonated water on demand that could be used to sterilise surfaces and kill bacteria and viruses. Though there are some concerns among researchers about the efficacy of ozonated water as a disinfectant solution on its own, it has some advantages over current methods.
Trevor Costello of Aqua 21 has launched a GoFundMe campaign to pay for engineering and manufacturing expertise to develop the small version of the product, as he believes that there will be another wave of COVID-19 infections in Autumn. The GoFundMe campaign is seeking £500,000 and is currently sitting at only £80, but Trevor is also looking for technology partners and engineers who may be stuck at home and could donate their time to the project.
Source: Aqua 21
