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News About QuickPure™Press Release July 26, 2007, ALAB, LLC Granted US Patent On QuickPure™ Oral Irrigator Technology Poptronics Magazine, Bottled Water in a Box Water Technology Magazine Online, Patent granted for home ozone purifier Businessweek Magazine, Bubbles vs. Bugs in Your Tap Water Popular Mechanics Magazine Technology Watch, Making Ozone User Friendly Home Furnishing News Magazine, The Discovery Ozone Hammacher Schlemmer News Release, Hammacher Schlemmer Search for Invention Winners Announced Popular Science Magazine Home Technology Section, Tiny Bubbles R&D Magazine, Honey, I Shrunk the Bottling Plant Water Conditioning & Purification Magazine, Tabletop ozone prototype
Bottled Water in a Box ALAB's invention radically "shrinks" the technology used to purify and improve the taste of water. With ALAB's patented, miniaturized technology, a countertop appliance the size of a food processor could produce the equivalent of a bottle of water at a cost of only about two cents a gallon--a tiny fraction of its price at the supermarket. Ozone is Generated Electrically This technology uses ozone generated electrically from the air to kill protozoa, bacteria, and viruses and improve the water's taste. Until now, ozone water treatment has been a large-scale enterprise. More than 200 municipal water treatment facilities in the US use this method. In these plants, ozone-generating equipment is about the size of a railroad box car; while in water-bottling plants, ozone-generators are about the size of a refrigerator. The cost of such generators starts at approximately $5000 apiece. Ozone, a form of oxygen, is about 100 times more powerful a disinfectant than chlorine. Ozone readily kills all common microorganisms, including chlorine-resistant ones such as cryptosporidium and giardia. In addition, ozone improves the taste of water, because it removes chlorine and oxidizes organic contaminants that cause taste problems. It also removes such impurities as iron and sulfur by precipitation after oxidation. Almost all the bottled water sold in this country is treated with ozone because of its ability to improve purity and flavor. Miniaturized Ozone Technology ALAB has miniaturized ozone technology, so that its germ-killing potential can be tapped in small appliances. The first application envisioned is the purification of drinking water within the home, but there are many other possibilities, including an instant contact lens cleaner that runs on batteries, and other health care appliances. Over 20 years went into the research and development effort to reduce the scale of conventional ozone technology. As a result, ALAB was able to shrink the process by a factor of about 1000, compared to municipal systems. Further reductions in scale were achieved by changing the ozone generation process itself. The miniaturized ozone generator is only about one-quarter of the size and cost
of a similar device based on conventional technology. This small-scale
technology generates ozone with an electrical corona. ALAB has several patents
protecting various features of the process, which is now available for licensing
by manufacturers. ALAB estimates that the water purifier could be sold for about $100 to $200 per
unit. The life of a household unit is expected to be around 15 years. How It Works In one of the prototypes ALAB developed, the countertop appliance purifies up to
a gallon of tap water. It pumps a thick column of sparkling, tiny ozone bubbles
through the water in the reservoir. These pinpoint-sized bubbles dissolve ozone
rapidly in the water, killing all the microorganisms present in the reservoir.
After three minutes, the purification process is complete, the bubbles stop, and
the device pumps the purified water into a pitcher. In another prototype, the
appliance begins pumping purified water directly into the pitcher almost
immediately after the button is pushed. In both models, the ozone is converted
back to oxygen with a catalyst. Both prototypes contain an activated carbon filter. Thus, the process that ALAB
calls "QuickPure" provides both the purification and taste improvement of ozone
and the benefits of regular water filters. With either model, the consumer
simply plugs the appliance into a standard electrical outlet, pours tap water
into the appliance's reservoir, turns on the switch, and waits for purified
water to be pumped into a pitcher. The water can be drunk immediately or stored
or refrigerated for later consumption. The key advantage of such an appliance would be limitless supplies of good
tasting, pure water, at a small fraction of the cost of bottled water. There is
no need to carry heavy bottles and no risk of running out in an emergency.
Bottled water costs around $1 a gallon, while a gallon of water purified in this
way costs about two cents. Other Applications In many areas of the world, safe drinking water is in short supply. Because this
new technology works on a small scale generating ozone to purify water and only
needs small amounts of electricity, "QuickPure" could be very helpful in such
places. Alternatively, these appliances could operate on batteries in areas
where electric power is unavailable or unreliable. Additional information about
the process, as well as technical details are given at the ALAB Web site:
www.quickpure.com. --Poptronics Magazine--
Patent granted for home ozone purifier ALAB has reduced the scale of its ozone technology to fit in an appliance the
size of a food processor, partially achieved by changing the process by which
the ozone is generated. The new purifier is about one-quarter of the size and
cost of a similar device based on conventional technology, and would sell for
about $100 to $200 each. The new purifier makes ozone technology that has previously been restricted
because of size and cost more practical for home use. Like its commercial-sized
counterpart, the unit uses ozone to kill bacteria, protozoa and viruses as well
as improve taste. The patent covers several aspects of the purifier, including safety features
that keep ozone, which can be dangerous to human respiratory systems over
prolonged exposure, from escaping into the atmosphere. The company has secured
four previous patents that protect other features of its prototypes. --Water Technology Magazine Online-- 
Bubbles vs. Bugs in Your Tap Water
An ALAB researcher has devised a way to miniaturize ozone purification, the
detoxification process used by most municipal water-treatment facilities. Ozone,
a form of oxygen, is a powerful disinfectant that kills bacteria and viruses,
thus improving the taste of the water. Until ALAB's device, such treatments were
large-scale enterprises requiring costly ozone generators as big as railroad box
cars. But ALAB has devised a way to shrink the technology so it fits in a device
the size of a food processor. The ALAB generator, which has a 15-year lifespan, works by pumping a dense
column of tiny ozone bubbles through a one-gallon tank of water. The bubbles
quickly dissolve, killing any germs present. ALAB plans on developing several
ozone generators that will retail from $80 to $300. And best of all, there won't
be any messy filters to change. --Businessweek Magazine--
Making Ozone User Friendly ALAB, of Pittsford, NY, (www.quickpure.com) has built prototypes of several
generators that make ozone production more user friendly. An electric corona
discharge creates the ozone, which is then bubbled through a column of water. An ALAB spokesman estimates that its kitchen counter system would cost between $100 and $200 and be able to disinfect and filter water for about 2 cents per gallon, while also improving its taste. Looking beyond drinking water, the company has prototyped a miniature version
that cleans contact lenses without the use of chemicals. (caption on picture of Contact Lens Cleaner prototype: "Contact lenses could be cleaned in just 3 minutes") --Popular Mechanics Magazine Technology Watch--
The Discovery Ozone Tagged "Bottled Water in a Box," the unit was one of 20 inventions recognized by
the specialty retailer. Meanwhile, ALAB is seeking a manufacturer to turn its working prototype into a
mass-produced product for national and global distribution. ALAB is currently in
negotiations with several manufacturers. Sure, there are numerous water filtration products already on the market, a
company spokeswoman said. But ALAB's filtration unit uses advanced technology. The water filtration unit uses ozonation--the same process that bottled water
makers and municipalities use to purify water. Ozone is a highly reactive form
of oxygen that can kill harmful micro-organisms in water. Ozone generators at
water bottling plants are about the size of a refrigerator. ALAB reduced the scale of this technology to a countertop-sized unit that is
designed to kill micro-organisms--including Cryptosporidium and
giardia lamblia cysts--as well as remove chlorine. The system also removes
iron and sulfur, thereby improving the taste of water. The ALAB spokeswoman said the unit will probably have a retail pricepoint
between $75 and $200. The contest recognizes inventions for home, car, garden
and lawn. --Home Furnishing News Magazine--
Hammacher Schlemmer Search for
Invention NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Hammacher Schlemmer
today announced the winners of SEARCH for INVENTION, a national inventor's
competition designed to discover the best new consumer products. The
announcement was made in the retailer's flagship store in Manhattan on 57th
Street. Winning Invention of Personal Electronics Category
($1,000) More than 350 entries were narrowed down to 18 semifinalists. To be considered for the competition, the product needed to fall into one of the following four categories: recreation, personal care, utilitarian home/garden and personal electronics. In addition, inventions needed to have patents, working or non-working prototypes, and be designed for general consumer, not industrial or trade use. A panel of five judges reviewed the eighteen semifinalists to select the winners. The judging panel included: Consumer product specialist Suzanne Kantra Kirschner, New Products On-Line Editor for Popular Science Magazine; Barbara Burnes, co-founder and administrator of the Ideas, Inventions & Innovation Forum on CompuServe; Ed Curran, creator of "Technogadgets" heard on United Airlines and high tech contributor for WGN-TV News; Dick DeBartolo, The Gizmo Wizard for MAD Magazine; and Tomima Edmark, entrepreneurial expert and founder of The TopsyTail Company. Hammacher Schlemmer is the nation's longest continuously published catalog and has been introducing high quality, innovative products to further the lifestyle of American consumers. The company also operates retail stores in New York City, Chicago and Beverly Hills, has a web site at http://www.hammacher.com (AOL keyword: Hammacher).
Tiny Bubbles Ozone removes all contaminants--viruses, bacteria and germs. Until now, the only
way to do this in the home was to boil the water. With QuickPure™, a pair of charged plates generate a field of electrons, called
a corona discharge. The corona breaks oxygen molecules from the air into oxygen
ions, which combine with other oxygen molecules to make ozone. A diffuser mixes
the ozone with the water in the form of tiny bubbles. The ozone then looks for
targets to oxidize, whether they be organic compounds or microorganisms. After
contaminants have been oxidized, they can be filtered. Making ALAB's downsizing
possible is a diffuser that shrinks the diameter of the bubbles from 3 to 0.5
millimeters. ALAB is now looking for manufacturers. --Charles Wardell, in Popular Science Magazine Home Technology Section--
Honey, I Shrunk the Bottling Plant --R&D Magazine--
Tabletop ozone prototype --Water Conditioning & Purification Magazine-- |
