PURA - a chemical- free water purification and disinfection solution.

Project Information

PURA

Grant agreement ID: 883055

DOI

10.3030/883055

Project closed

EC signature date 6 December 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 30 April 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

SOLARIS BIOTECHNOLOGY SRL
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PURA (PURA - a chemical- free water purification and disinfection solution.)

Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2020-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Despite safe drinking water being essential for human health, welfare and productivity, there are still 2.1 billion people (29% of the global population) who do not have access to a safely managed drinking source. Despite the multimillion efforts from international organisations (i.e. UN, international foundations and NGOs) in the provision of water treatment plants, still in developing countries and refugee camps, water collected in bottles, tanks or cans, is very often contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses and other pathogens from the surrounding environment. This is known as last-mile contamination and it can cause severe gastroenteritis and diarrhoea, which results in 1.5 million children deaths under the age of 5 and 2.2 million overall deaths annually.
Last-mile contamination is not addressed by current water treatment solutions which are either applied to the water upstream or are not suited to the daily realities of people who collect and store water in containers.
Solaris has developed “PURA”, a solution based on a natural ionizing resin, which emits a constant flow of electrons eliminated harmful bacteria (E.coli salmonella and Legionella), fungi and viruses in the water. It is chemical-free personal device, very easy to use, as you only need to immerse PURA inside the water and wait for the resin to perform its purifying effect. Our certified tests have shown that within 30 minutes the resin can remove all traces of salmonella and E.coli and significantly reduce traces of Legionella.
In order for PURA to change the lives of millions of people, we plan to further analyse its effectiveness and improve its shortcomings to be able to address the increasing needs in developing countries and refugee camps.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Technical feasibility. We have detailed our project execution plan to be developed in 18 months. It involves the product optimisation, validation of the production and product and pre-commercialisation activities. The assessment of the 3D printing led to the exclusion of this possibility not only for the plastic case but also for the resin itself. We identified the new properties we want to achieve, that will be sought through the development of a new material based on the latest technologies. We also identified how the current and new materials will be developed and the technical risks for implementation.
Commercial feasibility. We have identified the main targeted countries and analysed their markets and potential demand (sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Brazil). We decided to address developing countries and refugee camps in the first place, since this is the sector where we have the widest number of partners for an effective business. We also identified the applicable regulations other than the GDWQ. The FTO analysis showed no infringement and freedom to operate. Our IP strategy will rely on: 1) Our exclusivity agreement with the current resin provider; 2) Patent filing over our new material in development. Our exploitation plan relies on the deployment of local production plants together with our local partners in the countries of interest after their distribution capacity is proven. We will rely on the EIC, co-investors and development banks (i.e. World Bank) to make it possible.
Financial feasibility. We need 2,44M€ to reach break-even: 1,48M€ for the 18-month project implementation and 954k€ for the first year of commercialisation. According to our financial forecast, by the end of 2026 our company will reach an EBITDA of 17.36M€.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

- Unique affordable solution for the last mile “protection” without chlorine, that purifies and maintains the water safe to drink for 12 months.
- Unique portable device in the world, it is an on-the-go device, easy to use, a “Personal device” that can be brought with you everywhere, it can be put in the tank and in less than 30 minutes the water is safe. It can be reused for 12 months.
- Cheaper than competitors’ devices. Affordable for developing countries through NGO’s collaboration for its distribution. It is 10 times less expensive than the average of the direct competitors’ devices.
- Certified to meet the WHO drinking water regulations in each country where sales distribution channels will be built.
- Eco-friendly as it reduces the consumption of bottled water and reduces the plastic waste.
- Healthy, prevents against the use of potential harmful consequences of the usage of chlorine and chemical water treatments. In addition, PURA will prevent diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery among others caused by bacteria during the last mile contamination.
- Saves lives. The last mile contamination of water causes thousands of deaths. Devices in the market are not affordable for developing countries, and people take water anyway and drink it without guarantees.
- PURA is aligned with UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG 6 - Ensure access to water and sanitation for all) as well as with the World Bank, other development banks and NGOs goals in terms of access to water, sustainable industrialisation and inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

image-1.png