Developed by an eight-year-old firm, Ovation Products Corp., Nashua, N.H., the micro-distillation water-purification appliance currently has a capacity of 20 gallons per hour at a cost of only 35 watt hours per gallon or about .35¢. The machine stands 4 ft high, 1 ft in diameter and weighs about 300 lb. It operates on single-phase 110 or 220 volts.

Incoming water is filtered and heated to vaporization in the heat exchanger and the clean steam then is mechanically compressed to condensate, allowing the system to capture energy to heat more incoming water. Waste concentrate, about 10% of volume, is discharged to a holding tank. About 98% of the heat is recovered, making the system energy efficient and lowering operating costs. Click here to view diagram

Ovation claims the distiller is designed to be mass-produced. It already has secured eight U.S. patents and anticipates landing seven more. Several foreign patents, particularly in the important U.K., Chinese, Japanese and Indian markets, also are in process.

While the system has many potential uses, the primary initial market appears to be industrial, particularly as attachments to machines. Ovation also is looking at industrial, septic, well and wastewater uses as it ramps up financing efforts for production. "For now, we see three main applications, casting impregnation machines, parts washing and electroplating," says Ovation CEO William H. Zebuhr. "Then we would like to move into wastewater treatment and residential septic remediation."

The modular device consists of an evaporator/condenser, counterflow heat exchanger, compressor, motor and controls, encased in a stainless steel housing containing a vacuum layer, like a thermos bottle. Each unit is expected to initially sell for about $6,000 until higher production levels reduce costs and retail prices, Zebhur says. "We want to mass-produce small systems like PCs," he says.

So far, about 40 investors have sunk $6 million into development and Ovation is raising another $4 million for production at a plant in Marion, Mass. Ovation already has distribution agreements with U.S. and U.K. firms.

The company sold an early prototype to the army, which is testing the device at its research and engineering labs in Natick, Mass. "We’re looking at treating gray water from mobile field kitchens and sanitation centers [a mobile system of sinks for washing serving trays and pans]," says Chad W. Haering, army chemical engineer. "Our application has to be highly mobile, rugged and reliable." Testing is in the second and final year and he notes the units put out very high purity distillate, which can be reused or dumped without health issues. A lesser purity could cause regulatory problems for re-cycling. "The size and output are great and we have high expectations," Haering says.

Testing in the U.K. also is expected to be completed this year. "We’re going to conduct field trials at 10 locations and clean up filthy water without using the huge amounts of energy needed to distill or treat effluent," says David W. Miller, COO of Norman Hay plc, Coventry, an industrial metal finishing firm. The field trials are supported by a grant from the Carbon Trust, part of the U.K. Treasury Dept. involved in an effort to lower carbon waste in the atmosphere by reducing energy consumption.

A Hay subsidiary, Lancy Water Technology Ltd., Coventry, has U.K. distribution rights and will oversee the testing along with an independent consulting firm. Lancy intends to distribute the units through a rental/maintenance program.