PATH
PATH is a global health nonprofit organization that aims to enhance global health and well-being by advancing innovative solutions to critical health challenges. They aim for health equity by partnering with public institutions, businesses, grassroots organizations, and investors. PATH’s work includes scientific research, engineering, policy advocacy, and scaling resources to develop affordable, locally tailored medical devices and health technologies. Using human-centered design, PATH ensures its innovations are sustainable and aligned with local priorities, making health more accessible for everyone, everywhere.
design space
According to the UN’s 2023 World Water Development Report, 46% of the world’s population lacks sanitary drinking water. Chlorination efforts are expanding, but the status of chlorination systems is often unclear, leaving users uncertain about water safety. Current free-chlorine monitors are limited in low– or no-power settings, are inaccessible due to the cost and sourcing of necessary disposables, and require training which all hinder widespread use.
Our goal was to develop an affordable, intuitive, and accessible chlorine testing device utilizing oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) technology.
why ORP?
ORP = Oxidation Reduction Potential = measures substance’s tendency to gain electrons (voltage of a liquid)
Chlorine is an effective and widely used method of water sanitation across the globe. To achieve sanitation through chlorination, there must be enough chlorine added to leave a residual of free chlorine ions. Using ORP and a fancy algorithm, we are able to determine the amount of free chlorine ions in water after sanitation. This is an accessible and cost effective alternative to current methods employed by those testing water quality.
This project is a first step in exploring the use of ORP as an accessible water testing device. Many of PATH’s development projects take years to find their way into the world.
PATH maintains trust as a third-party health organization by consistently facilitating partnerships with governments and private sector companies. Through these collaborations, PATH ensures efficient sourcing and manufacturing, creating effective markets and regulatory systems for delivering innovations.
As low volume fabrication practices become common, open source fabricable devices become a possible alternative to traditional manufacturing.
DIY style fabrication has the opportunity to reduce cost, limit dependence on manufacturers, and simplify device maintainence.
Quality control is an issue that would need to be thoughtfully solved for an open source version of our ORP device as there are many possible points of failure with 3D printing.