Novel PV-electrochemical chlorinator for off-grid water treatment

该项目将满足从家庭规模到约500人社区的对负担得起且可靠的离网水处理解决方案的需求。约有21亿人依赖于源头被微生物污染的水（世卫组织/联合国儿童基金会），而源头后污染影响更多人[Bainetal，2014]。与此相关的肠道疾病约占5岁以下儿童死亡人数的8%（联合国儿童基金会/世卫组织，2017年）。公认的改善水质的“第一步”是在加盖的威尔斯井和钻孔中安装坚固可靠的水泵，以限制污染。为此，Thermofluidics开发了“冲击泵”，来自Wellcome和其他公司的超过500万英镑，使光伏电力，汽油或人力能够进入深层地下水。最近，Wellcome/Innovate-GCRF与我们的肯尼亚合作伙伴FundiFix的联合项目证明了这一点，该项目将农村供水服务的平均正常运行时间从约75%增加到99%以上。凭借超过20家分销商和水服务提供商的网络，我们正在全球范围内积极推出出口产品。随着Impact Pump销售的增长，该项目将使我们能够保留和发展我们的研发团队，通过改变游戏规则的水处理能力扩展我们的产品组合。普遍获得安全饮用水的障碍是缺乏一种经济上可行的、没有补贴的离网处理解决方案。氯化是迄今为止最常见的水消毒方法。它可以杀死病毒（不像微滤），对浊度不敏感（不像紫外线处理）。这是唯一一种在后处理过程中提供残留保护以防止污染的方法。然而，由于供应链问题、熟练的操作员要求以及高昂的运营和维护成本，现有的解决方案往往不可行。我们的方法将利用廉价光伏来解锁这一价值20亿至30亿英镑的可寻址出口市场机会，以成功的概念验证实验为基础，避免现场需要熟练的操作员或无氯化学品。它将包括氯生产和投配组件，根据水龙头的流量自动处理水。我们的工作计划允许从第14个月开始进行生产和测试，并为项目结束后的全面启动做准备。这是一份重新提交的文件，并提供了更多细节以回应评审员的意见。该项目对可持续发展目标3、6和13产生了重大影响，并为英国战略伙伴国家开辟了大量新的出口机会，我们相信该项目对英国纳税人来说具有极高的价值。

This project will address the need for an affordable and reliable off-grid water treatment solution from the household scale to communities of around 500 people.Approximately 2.1Bn people depend on water which is microbially contaminated at source (WHO/UNICEF), and post-source contamination affects many more \[Bainetal,2014\]. Associated diarrhoeal disease accounts for ~8% of deaths amongst under 5s (UNICEF/WHO, 2017).The recognised "first step" in improving water quality is to install robust and reliable pumps in capped wells and boreholes to limit contamination. To this end, Thermofluidics developed the "Impact Pump", with over £5M from Wellcome and others, enabling PV-electric, petrol or human power to access deep-groundwater. This was recently demonstrated in a joint Wellcome/Innovate-GCRF project with our Kenyan partner FundiFix to offer an increase in the average up-time of powered rural water services from ~75% to over 99%. Leveraging a network over 20 distributors and water service providers, we are actively rolling-out an export product worldwide.As Impact Pump sales grow, this project will enable us to retain and grow our R&D team, extending our portfolio with a game-changing water treatment capability.Groundwater is often unavailable, or contaminated. Universal access to safe water is hindered by the lack of an off-grid treatment solution that's economically viable without subsidy.Chlorination is by far the most common method of water sterilisation. It kills viruses (unlike microfiltration) and is insensitive to turbidity (unlike UV treatment). It's the only method that provides residual protection against contamination post-treatment. However, existing solutions are often unviable due to supply chain issues, skilled operator requirements and high operational and maintenance costs.Our approach will leverage cheap-PV to unlock this £2-£3Bn addressable export market opportunity, building on successful proof-of-concept experiments in a way that avoids the need for skilled-operators or free-chlorine chemicals on site. It will include chlorine production and dosing components, automatically treating water in proportion to the flow rate at which it is drawn at the tap.Our workplan allows for an initial release for productionisation and beta-trialling from month 14, and preparation for a full-launch from the end of the project. This is a re-submission, with additional detail to address reviewers' comments.Impacting substantially on SDGs 3,6&13 and opening a substantial new export opportunity to UK strategic partner countries, we believe that this project represents excellent value for the UK taxpayer.