Imagine you didn’t have clean water at home, whether for cooking, show­ering or washing your clothes. Hard to imagine, right? But some­thing that’s incon­ceiv­able for us is everyday life for many people around the world. For them, clean drinking water is a rare commodity and they often have to walk kilo­me­ters to find some.

Water disin­fec­tion by UV light

“The cont­a­m­i­nated water runs through the system, where it is irra­di­ated by UV LEDs.” – Thomas Sechaud, CEO T.zic

“The prin­ciple behind this tech­nology is very simple,” says Thomas Séchaud, CEO of T.zic and co-founder of the company. “The cont­a­m­i­nated water runs through the system, where it is irra­di­ated by UV LEDs. This effec­tively destroys bacteria, viruses, para­sites and spores – quickly and entirely without addi­tional chem­i­cals.”

The UVOJI with axial fans from ebm-papst for cooling the UV LEDs. (Photo | T.Zic)

During this process, the UV LEDs also generate a lot of heat that has to be dissi­pated outwards. This is where 614F axial fans from ebm-papst come into play. They keep the UVOJI at oper­ating temper­a­ture and prevent the LEDs from over­heating. This allows the compact system to func­tion reli­ably and to be used exactly where clean water is required, whether that’s in rural areas, poor neigh­bor­hoods or crisis regions.

UVOJI in use world­wide

“Thanks to the support of the French Red Cross, our box is already being used by people who urgently need it,” says Séchaud. For example in Nioumamilima in the Comoros. Here, the start-up from Mont­pel­lier worked with the FRK and the Red Cres­cent to equip the local family health center. A special model called the UVOJI Pure was installed, consisting of a UV disin­fec­tion box called the UVOJI Safe and an addi­tional module that phys­i­cally filters the water using acti­vated carbon.

After instal­la­tion of the UVOJI Pure: water test in the family health centre of Nioumamilima. (Photo | T.Zic)

“This modu­larity distin­guishes our system,” says Séchaud. “We can simply expand it using the plug-and-play process and adapt it to the loca­tion and purpose”. There­fore, in addi­tion to disin­fecting water using UV light, it can also filter dirt parti­cles or prepare used water as UVOJI Reuse so that it can be directly reused.

Elec­tricity by solar panel

The only other thing that UVOJI needs is elec­trical power. But what happens if there is hardly any elec­tricity in an area or no elec­tricity at all? T.zic has an answer to this problem as well. The system saves a lot of energy, as it only draws power when it’s really needed. In addi­tion, the start-up also offers the UVOJI with a solar panel. This means that the box can even work smoothly outdoors and can be used flex­ibly.

Instal­la­tion of the UVOJI under a kitchen sink. (Photo | T.Zic)

Instal­la­tion of the UVOJI under a kitchen sink. (Photo | T.Zic)

This means that clean, drink­able water no longer requires long walks or expen­sive treat­ment plants. The UVOJI simply cleans water then and there – no matter when, no matter where! The system is easy to install and can be expanded with modules. It also conserves resources, as it does not require chem­i­cals and oper­ates using pure solar energy. A UV light will soon enter many parts of the world and clean water will be a given for everyone.