This portable, hand-cranked device filters and concentrates pathogens from wastewater using multi-stage filtration and centripetal force, enabling affordable, electricity-free infectious disease monitoring in resource-limited areas for rapid public health response.
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a critical public health tool used to monitor community-level infectious diseases by analyzing environmental water samples. In many developing regions, waterborne illnesses like cholera and typhoid represent a severe health burden. To mitigate these threats, there is an urgent need for widespread disease surveillance to facilitate early outbreak detection. Effective WBE requires concentrating pathogens from large volumes of wastewater so downstream analyses can accurately identify disease presence. Consequently, public health agencies need accessible, high-throughput solutions capable of operating directly at remote sites to ensure timely epidemiological data collection.
Despite this necessity, current pathogen concentration methods are fundamentally ill-suited for resource-limited environments. Traditional approaches often rely on high-end commercial systems that are prohibitively expensive, excessively bulky, and entirely dependent on a stable electrical grid. Furthermore, these advanced systems typically demand laboratory-grade facilities, making on-site deployment in developing regions nearly impossible. Conversely, low-tech alternatives like Moore swabs suffer from a lack of pathogen-specific capture and low overall yield, rendering them unreliable for precise tracking. Ultimately, existing solutions force a compromise between unaffordable, infrastructure-heavy equipment and cheap methods that fail to provide diagnostic accuracy.
This portable wastewater surveillance system utilizes a hand-cranked, multi-stage filtration process to concentrate pathogens without electricity. The device begins with mechanical prefiltration to remove large debris. Its core mechanism features a gear-driven cyclone chamber rotated manually, generating centripetal force to drive liquid through a modular, detachable membrane enclosure. The system captures bacteria and viruses based on size and charge, processing one liter of wastewater in under thirty minutes. Designed for field deployment, the unit weighs under ten kilograms and uses bleach-compatible components to ensure reusability and sanitation.
What sets this technology apart is its ability to deliver advanced wastewater-based epidemiology to resource-limited environments. Unlike traditional commercial systems that are expensive and reliant on stable power grids, this solution is entirely grid-independent and highly cost-effective. It also outperforms rudimentary methods by offering high-throughput, pathogen-specific capture with yields exceeding 85%. The modular membrane enclosure allows users to easily swap filters to target specific threats, from bacteria to microscopic viruses. By enabling rapid, on-site pathogen concentration, this system empowers public health officials in underserved regions to conduct population-wide disease monitoring and detect outbreaks early.
This patent is available for exclusive licensing.
This hand-powered wastewater surveillance system utilizes a gear-driven cyclone chamber to concentrate pathogens. Following mechanical prefiltration, manual cranking generates centripetal force, driving liquid through modular membranes that capture bacteria and viruses via size exclusion and electrostatic charge. Operating without electricity, this portable device facilitates on-site sample concentration in resource-limited environments. Its modular design allows for rapid membrane retrieval, supporting scalable infectious disease monitoring and downstream analysis.
Provisional patent 64/040,982 filed 04/16/26