# Presentation: 398640

## Improving and Evaluating the UV Tube for use in Mexico

- Presented for Design for Sustainable Communities Class, University of California Berkeley, May 2006
- Esha Datta
- Jorge Hernandez
- Kate Ming
- Sintana Vergara

## Outline

- Context/background
- Project details
- Field study
- Results of field study
- Future work

## Water Crisis

- Lack of clean water access
- 1.8 million deaths due to diarrheal diseases
- 90% of deaths are children under age of 5

## Baja California Sur Peninsula

- Desert Landscape with mountain ranges and coast line
- Wealthier than other regions of Mexico
- Rural, small communities, family oriented
- 50% of wells tested contained E-coli
- Indicates fecal contamination

## UV-Tube Solution

- Point of Use water treatment
- Uses UV light to disinfect water
- Affects DNA of pathogens
- Advantages
- Faster
- Effective (viruses, protozoa, bacteria)
- Easy access (POU)
- Actively being used in Mexico and Sri Lanka
- Limitations
- Need electricity
- Less effective turbid water

## How the UV-tube Works

- Germicidal Lamp

- water below lamp

## Project History

- 1999 – RAEL launches UV-tube project
- 2003 – Pilot study in Morelos, Mexico
- 2004 – Agua Salud student project to assess water quality
- 2005 – Baja Sur pilot project launched with new design

**Notes:**
Issue of electricity and turbid water

Through a series of design-test iterations, Berkeley researchers managed to address 
the latter limitations by developing the uv tube, a low cost and user-friendly system that can be built and distributed using locally available resources.

2003, Morelos, Mexico small-scale pilot study of 18 families in two communities
el tUVo developed with collaboration with the Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA)

Augasalud – check water s
Issue of electricity and turbid water

Through a series of design-test iterations, Berkeley researchers managed to address 
the latter limitations by developing the uv tube, a low cost and user-friendly system that can be built and distributed using locally available resources.

2003, Morelos, Mexico small-scale pilot study of 18 families in two communities

Augasalud – check water s

## Early Design

- Design implemented in
- Morelos, Mexico

- Community was involved
- In the production process

## Current Design to be Improved

- Effective
- Room for improvement

**Notes:**
Stand-alone system has had great success

## Our Design: Idea of Simplicity 	

- New design: Table Based
- Minimizing materials
- Ease of manufacturing
- Intuitive design
- Level
- Compact
- Aesthetics
- Fixed Height
- Stability

## New Design

- On/off Switch

- GFCI

- Drain

- Window

- Support Beams

## Major Design Modifications

- Table Based Design
- Added 3 support  beams for stability
- Drain Placement
- Moved to back to avoid confusing it with the clean water outlet
- In-line GFCI
- To prevent electrical shock
- Window Placement
- Made window bigger to easily identify if powered on
- Moved next to the bucket table top inlet hole for easy viewing

## Design Obstacles/Lessons

- Table (“reinventing the wheel”)
- Disproportionate amount of time spent on designing/making the table
- A professional made 3 tables in 2 days
- Pressed for time to build and install tubes
- UV Tube Parts
- Had to go to multiple hardware stores
- Troubleshooting
- 2 Tubes would not power on locate source of problem

## Design Iterations

## Implementation

- End-user as expert
- Approximation of end user
- Community selection:
- Close ties to Mexico
- Well water
- Willingness to participate
- (preferred) Lack of clean water

## Household Selection

- Connection through UNIDO Conference
- door to door--describing project
- Near Santa Rosa
- Selected 2 families

## Households: Family 1

- 6 people (4 kids)
- Teachers
- Parents born in Mexico, but in US since 1978
- Very willing to participate – initial contact (first adopter)

## Households: Family 2

- Recruited
- 3 people
- Grandparents        and child
- Laborer
- Close ties to Mexico
- In US since 1971

## Pilot Installation

- Installed system in 2 homes
- Described project, how to use, asked them to use UV tube daily for 2 weeks
- Want their feedback

## Interviews

- We returned 2 weeks later and interviewed them for feedback
- Questions on specific aspects of system:
- ease-of-use
- outlet
- inlet
- light
- aesthetics
- To demonstrate                                                     use of system
- report problems

## Relevance of Pilot Study

- Rural areas
- No real water  treatment problems
- Connections to communities with water problems
- Originally from Mexico
- Strong ties to community and family in Mexico
- Different socio-economic backgrounds
- Larger houses
- Different motivation for use

## Key Recommendations

- Make indicator light more visible and closer to switch
- Make system more aesthetically pleasing
- Consider different materials or protective covering
- Adapt to perception of effective water treatment

## Key Recommendations

- Set affordable costs
- Cover for dust
- Make transporting water to the bucket easier
- Change the outlet so water doesn’t spill or get contaminated

## Future Work

- Baja - Summer 2006
- Adapting materials
- Incorporating a filter
- Implementation in Baja
- User feedback
- Plans for large scale dissemination

## Questions?