This EPA Region 2 Cooperative Agreement, awarded under the Congressionally Mandated Projects program (CFDA 66.202), provides $1,750,000.00 in funding to the City of Canandaigua, NY to implement a project to reduce total trihalomethane (TTHM) concentrations in the city's public drinking water supply. The project involves installing a TTHM removal system, including mixers, floating spray units, a blower, and additional ventilation in two existing water storage tanks. A new building will also be...
This Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084) provides $305,000.00 in funding to Wave Lumina Inc. to develop a portable device for rapid, on-site detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. The innovation aims to address the urgent need for affordable, real-time PFAS monitoring, particularly near military bases, airports, and industrial facilities. The project will develop a...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant award of $304,950 to Dayzero Water LLC, awarded on February 15, 2025, supports the development of a novel, inexpensive, and adaptable point-of-use water treatment device. The device deploys ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection technology in a simple, pitcher-shaped, countertop household appliance that can operate on electricity or rechargeable...
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), under the Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113) federal grant program, awarded Nona Technologies, Inc. a $297,815 project grant to develop a portable, standalone universal water purifier based on cation exchange resin-incorporated ion concentration polarization (CER-ICP) technology. The project aims to create a scalable CER-ICP cell prototype capable of producing 5 liters of drinking water per hour by reducing total dissolved solids...
This $349,044 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports collaborative research to compare the concentrations and toxicity contributions of different classes of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formed during drinking water treatment. The key objectives are to: 1) Compare DBP formation and toxicity between chlorine/chloramine disinfection and granular activated carbon treatment followed by chlorination; 2) Assess how water source, age,...
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) awarded Materials Nova LLC, a woman-owned small business, a $668,744 Project Grant under the Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113) federal grant program. The grant funding supports the development of an innovative, portable, and scalable point-of-use water purification system designed to remove bacteria and toxic metals like lead and mercury from natural water sources. The project aims to create a proof-of-concept prototype that...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under the NIEHS Superfund Hazardous Substances Basic Research and Education program (CFDA 93.143) supports the development of a field-deployable analyzer for detecting and quantifying trace levels of uranyl (uranium) in water. The $173,075 award to Ondavia, Inc., a for-profit manufacturer of advanced chemical analysis technologies, aims to create a Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)-based...
Under this U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 project, Ondavia, Inc. is developing, prototyping, validating, and commercializing an in-line, automated, semi-continuous instrument to monitor and measure the nitrogen cycle in water using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). The $600,000 award supports the assembly and testing of a prototype analyzer for automated, quantitative analysis...
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $275,000 Project Grant to Water Illumination Inc., a small minority-owned business, to develop a tunable deep ultraviolet (UV)-based technology for the destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. This grant, funded under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program, aims to create a cost-effective, chemical-free water treatment system capable of nearly complete PFAS elimination without...
The Project Grant award of $586,190 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under the Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113) program will support the development of an innovative, in-line autonomous monitoring system for detecting and measuring hexavalent chromium in drinking and groundwater. The project aims to convert a successful feasibility study into a prototype system that can provide rapid, accurate, and calibration-free analysis of chromate contamination over a...
SBIR PHASE II: EVALUATING THE FEASIBILITY OF THE TOTALTHM-NOW FOR DRINKING WATER TREATMENT PLANTS TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY, REDUCE COSTS, AND LOWER CANCER RISKS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT THERE IS AN INCREASED RISK OF CANCER ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM EXPOSURE TO DRINKING WATER DISINFECTION BY- PRODUCTS (DBPS). TRIHALOMETHANES (THMS) ARE THE MOST COMMON CLASS OF DBPS FORMED DURING WATER CHLORINATION. DESPITE THE THMS BEING REGULATED FOR 40 YEARS. MANY DRINKING WATER TREATMENT PLANTS (WTPS) STILL DO NOT HAVE AFFORDABLE, ON-SITE TOOLS NEEDED TO MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE. SUPERINTENDENTS AT THESE WTPS MAY ALLOCATE MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR OPERATING BUDGET FOR TREATMENT PROCESSES, WITH A SIGNIFICANT PORTION BEING DEVOTED FOR THM CONTROL STRATEGIES. HOWEVER, WITHOUT REAL-TIME THMS CONCENTRATION DATA, WTP OPERATORS BLINDLY ADJUST THE TREATMENT PROCESSES WHICH MAY LEAD TO INEFFICIENT PRACTICES AND HIGHER OPERATING COSTS. WHILE THERE ARE COMMERCIAL DEVICES FOR ON-SITE THMS MONITORING, THEY ARE NOT AFFORDABLE TO MOST WTPS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR VERY SMALL, SMALL, AND MANY MEDIUM SIZED UTILITIES. MANY OF THESE WTP ARE OFTEN RURAL AND LOCATED IN ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED REGIONS, BUT THEY ARE UNDER THE SAME REGULATIONS AS THEIR LARGER METROPOLITAN COUNTERPARTS. THE RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE WILL REVOLUTIONIZE WATER TREATMENT BY PROVIDING TO ALL WTPS THE ABILITY FOR AFFORDABLE, ON-SITE PROCESS CONTROL OF THMS. IN PHASE I, TWO INSTRUMENTS WERE PROVEN TO BE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE. THE TOTALTHM-NOW, WHERE NOW REFERS SIMPLY TO GETTING THE RESULTS "NOW", IS BASED ON PROVEN, PEER- REVIEWED AND PATENTED SCIENCE. THE THM METER IS A SPIN-OUT DEVICE OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH EFFORTS. BOTH THE DEVICES ARE BASED ON THE SAME CHEMISTRY, THE KEY DIFFERENCE BEING THAT THE TOTALTHM-NOW IS A FULLY AUTOMATED, ON-LINE ANALYZER FOR TOTAL THMS WHEREAS THE THM METER IS SEMI-AUTOMATED. THE TOTALTHM-NOW WILL BE TARGETED AT THE LARGE NUMBER OF MID-SIZED WTPS, LARGE, AND VERY LARGE WTPS. OUR LOWER-COST THM METER WILL BE THE ONLY DEVICE AVAILABLE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR ALL VERY SMALL, SMALL, AND MEDIUM WTPS. THESE SYSTEMS ARE "GAME- CHANGERS" WITH REGARDS TO PRICE AND PERFORMANCE FOR AN INDUSTRY THAT HAS STRUGGLED FOR ALMOST A DECADE TO MEET AFFORDABLE PRICE POINTS FOR ON-SITE THMS MONITORING. IN PHASE II, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE COMMERCIAL FEASIBILITY OF THESE SYSTEMS. THE SPECIFIC AIMS ARE TO REDUCE THE INSTRUMENT FOOTPRINT AND FURTHER OPTIMIZE THE TOTALTHM- NOW TO PRODUCE BETA PROTOTYPES; TO PACKAGE AND OPTIMIZE THE THM METER; AND TO CONDUCT A SERIES OF NATIONWIDE BETA TESTS TO READY THE DEVICES FOR INDUSTRY ADOPTION AND COMMERCIALIZATION. THE TOTALTHM-NOW AND THM METER WILL LEAD TO BETTER PROCESS CONTROL OF THMS CONCENTRATIONS AT THE WTP, A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THMS FORMATION, AND THUS LOWER THMS CONCENTRATIONS AT THE PLANT AND IN THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. WTPS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES WILL HAVE THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO: (1) EXPERIENCE FEWER THMS VIOLATIONS, (2) REAP ECONOMIC/ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS THROUGH REDUCED ENERGY AND CHEMICAL USAGE, (3) ACHIEVE HIGHER COMMUNITY CONFIDENCE IN THEIR DRINKING WATER, AND ULTIMATELY (4) LOWER CANCER RISKS THROUGH REDUCTIONS IN THMS EXPOSURE.