“It’s very important technology. It’s especially important to Toledo,” said Carol Ann Wedding, the company’s chief executive officer.
Ultraviolet light widely is used to kill germs, including in water. However, officials with IST say their method is more efficient and more durable than existing technologies.
“The trick is to expose as much water as possible to the UV, and you also need things that are rugged,” Ms. Wedding said. “In the current of water, you don’t want something that will be damaged.”
Her company has developed a way to produce UV light from small tubes that are coated with titanium dioxide and filled with plasma. The titanium dioxide acts as a catalyst, giving the tubes an extra boost of effectiveness.
The tubes range in size, with some thinner than the width of a dime’s edge, and others as large as a standard aspirin pill. They’re grouped together into cartridges, creating a high surface area for exposure to water.
Ms. Wedding said IST has been working on the technology for about five years. The company, which is located on West Bancroft Street, has 15 employees.
Imaging Systems Technology’s grant was one of nine Small Business Innovation Research awards announced Wednesday by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Other projects that received funding included a Nashville company working on a way to use X-rays to quickly detect and recover rare earth elements from the recycling stream, and a California firm developing a handheld testing device to measure water contaminates.
Ms. McCarthy said that device is specifically targeting cyanobacteria — the same toxins that rendered Toledo’s drinking water unusable for parts of three days this summer.
In all, the EPA committed $3 million in grant funding Wednesday.
Ms. McCarthy said the agency focuses on small businesses working on green technologies that either help combat climate change or help address the environmental issues that have come from it.
“These businesses are really innovating affordable energy efficient technologies that are helping us move toward a low-carbon future,” she said.
Many of the products are in early-stage development, and EPA officials concede it will take some time to get them to market. However, they say they have significant potential for scientific and economic success.
“When the government invests in innovating in the business sector, we all win,” she said. “The return on that investment builds a healthy economy and a healthy environment.”
The funding announced Wednesday is the second EPA award for the Toledo company’s project. Imaging Systems Technology was one of 23 firms selected from among 250 applicants for the EPA’s initial funding round last year. IST received $80,000 at that time.
Ms. Wedding said IST’s water purification system could reach the market within the next couple of years. The EPA and a commercial partner are conducting tests.
The system is primarily envisioned for deployment in medium-sized water treatment plants.
However, company officials say they’ve had discussions with others about the potential for using their plasma shells in the field for disaster relief and other humanitarian efforts.
©2014 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)
