Students Receive EPA Award for Sustainability Design

Students Rachel Peletz, Sarah Brownell and Fermin Reygadas demonstrate the UV Tube

A team including two CEE students is among the winners of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's first annual P3 (People, Prosperity, Planet) Awards for innovative designs for a sustainable tomorrow. The Cal team, co-sponsored by Prof. Kara Nelson, presented a design for an inexpensive water purification system that uses ultraviolet light to inactivate pathogens.

Out of a group of 65 teams composed of more than 400 university students and advisors, seven teams were chosen for the creativity and utility of their sustainability designs. The awards were presented in a ceremony in late May at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

The UV Tube Project aims to make household ultraviolet disinfection of contaminated drinking water a viable option for people with limited resources, especially in developing countries.