UDAS (Underwater De-Acidification System)

Disease spreading in underdeveloped countries is a widespread problem, affecting billions around the world. A major cause of this is unclean water reservoirs, making the water a common disease vector. UDAS can help solve this, by using a new combination of centrifuges and a class of molecules nicknamed “sponges”. This new approach would capture contaminants in the sponges, which, when saturated, link together to form a cluster of molecules large enough to be centrifuged out, leaving a cleaner mass of water. New classes of sponges could be made to specifically bind to any specific particle or even onto the surface of a bacteria or virus, effectively cleaning the water supply. If applied, this could positively impact the lives of many, preventing the spread of infectious disease globally in places where people suffer the most.

UDAS addresses the illness and disease issues of the Challenge, which is extremely widespread, afflicting 2.5 billion around the globe according to the CDC, primarily in poorer, crowded, and unsanitized areas. In these poor, dense populations, water-borne diseases can spread rapidly, leaving the people without a defence. A number of reasons lead to this, one is that the socioeconomic conditions in which the affected people live in cannot sustain a clean water supply. A second, which is not always the case, is a government that is unable or unwilling to help, and others include climate change, war, and other man made causes, as well as natural causes, like drought or an existing epidemic. In any case, help is needed, and in these densely populated, poor areas, UDAS can help bring water quality up.

The people that UDAS can help are in general poor, live in densely populated areas, and do not have the capabilities to improve their situation. The issue is not one of ignorance or misunderstanding, but rather of insufficient resources and circumstance. UDAS can help these people by giving them a cleaner water supply, significantly reducing the spread of diseases, and improving their health. This can uplift their lifestyle and physical health, thereby giving them a higher likelihood of improving in other areas. To many in the developed world, a clean water supply is taken for granted, but in these areas, it is an enormous privilege and opportunity for better health, and in turn, education, business, and other sectors.

Ocean acidification today is a massive problem involving the dissolution of carbon dioxide in the ocean surface, causing a chain reaction leading to a more acidic environment. If humans continue greenhouse gas emissions in their current state, the world ecosystem will be devastated. Previous research showed possible solutions using electrolytic dissolution of silicate minerals to raise the pH; however, this approach is extremely invasive and likely breaks down existing compounds in the seawater, and requires large quantities of energy. My new approach is described in the design of my device, called the Underwater De-Acidification System (UDAS). UDAS will directly combat the effects of ocean acidification and calcification in small, relatively isolated bodies of water by processing seawater. Its system will use chemical reactions with molecules designed to soak up and neutralize acids, and will require a liquid centrifuge to stratify and separate the protein-sized waste products. Some improvements to this design could be a higher proton and acid capture density of the compound, and the use of an advanced liquid centrifuge more geared towards sub-micron sized particles to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and environmental advantage of the system.

My solution brings a whole new application for sponges and puzzle-piece-like parts. It uses micro-sponges, that when are fully or partially saturated with particulate matter, condense into larger clot particles that can be centrifuged out, which when removed, leaves a clean cylinder of water. Across the web, this application for sponges and centrifuges has not been used as of yet.

The technology that UDAS uses centers around the new combination of micro-sponges and centrifuges. The micro-sponges will pick up particulate matter that is contaminating the water, and will stick together to form a clot that is large enough to be removed by the centripetal force. The sticking together will be performed by tiny velcro-like structures, allowing the sponge particle to stick to contaminants and to other sponges. This allows water to be cleaned without a filter and only using mechanical force, although the process does require a new type of sponge.

UDAS should be able to address the problem because it will bring a solution for overcrowded, low-income areas with a clean water shortage. When fully developed, it should provide a viable, affordable solution because of its use of only mechanical power and mass-produced micro-sponges. Unfortunately, this is still only a concept and cannot be expected to be up and running for at least another year.

Our solution is currently just a concept, so nobody is served yet. In the next year, hopefully a series of prototypes can be produced, and in the next five years we could be serving multiple communities with this solution.

In the next year, my goal is to prototype and perhaps start to use UDAS in one community. In the next five years, however, much more can be accomplished, and perhaps we can branch out to multiple communities/cities.

The biggest barrier right now is lack of funding and manpower. If those can be overcome, we can start prototyping. As for the next five years, we lack the connections and the production power needed to accomplish our goal of branching out, on top of those mentioned above. We also do not have the materials or technology necessary to produce the micro-sponges described previously.

As for funding, we will bring the concept to several shark tank like competitions, hoping to attract attention and hope. For manpower, it should be relatively easy to acquire through connections. Production power and the materials, as well as the technology for the micro-sponges, can be obtained once we receive funding. We will use all of these to first produce prototypes, then once it is well-tested, we will start to produce more, perhaps starting production lines.

Just one person with a big idea.

We are well-educated on the subjects that UDAS relates to. We also have lab experience and can draw from many resources.

We will sell our products to densely populated areas for the lowest possible price.

MIT Solve can help us with getting funding, partnerships, and other opportunities. This will help us accelerated prototyping and researching the materials required for the solution to become effective.

We will use the prize to fund research and production of the prototyping of the solution.