Water Illumination Inc.

Water Illumination Inc., a minority-owned, woman-owned small business based in Lake Forest, California, develops chemical-free ultraviolet-based photochemical water treatment systems for destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural, industrial, and municipal water applications, operating exclusively as a research and development prime recipient under federal SBIR and competitive grant programs.

Water Illumination is a for-profit corporate entity self-certified as a small disadvantaged business with dual SBA designations as a woman-owned small business and a minority-owned business (Asian-Pacific American-owned). The company operates entirely in the research and development space, with no federal contracts in its footprint — all six awards are either SBIR research contracts or federal research grants. The company has secured $2.8 million in obligated federal funding across a combined potential value of $600 thousand, a signature pattern of early-stage SBIR Phase I and Phase II awards where government payment often exceeds the stated contract ceiling as phases advance or renewals occur.

Water Illumination's customer base is evenly distributed across four federal agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency (two awards, $600 thousand combined potential value) anchors the contract side with a Phase I award ($100,000, December 2023 through May 2024) and a Phase II award ($500,000, October 2024 through October 2027), both for development of short-wavelength UV-based PFAS destruction technology in saline wastewater. The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (two awards) funded a Phase I SBIR grant ($650,000, awarded September 2026, completion August 2028) focused on scaling UV treatment systems for agricultural and food-industry water reuse, and an earlier Phase I Phase award (awarded August 2024, completion March 2026) addressing PFAS destruction in irrigation water. The National Science Foundation (two awards) awarded a $275,000 Project Grant (January through December 2024, CFDA 47.084) to develop tunable deep-ultraviolet PFAS destruction for drinking water, and a $1.239 million cooperative agreement (August 2026 through July 2028, CFDA 47.084) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program to design and validate a next-generation deep-ultraviolet photochemical reactor with modular scale-up capability.

Three awards carrying combined potential value of $500 thousand reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure for all active Phase I and Phase II SBIR work. The company has no subcontract footprint and does not anchor any parent contract vehicles or government-wide acquisition contracts.