Optical Waters, a startup supported by the IALS Venture Development program, was awarded National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase II (NSF SBIR Phase II) funding in order to scale and optimize their manufacturing methods.

Optical Waters is a woman-owned seed staged business based in Amherst, Massachusetts that offers custom ultraviolet optical fiber solutions for disinfecting small channels and complex geometries. Pathogenic bacteria attach and grow on virtually every surface; this buildup of bacteria, known as biofilms, cause health hazards and operational issues. Optical Waters’s expert team provides integral disinfection solutions so companies can deliver clean and safe products to their end users.

Optical Waters is working to advance the development of germicidal optical fibers (GOFs). GOFs are the first fiber technology that can effectively distribute ultraviolet (UV)-C radiation in pipes, tubes, and channels by side-emitting UV-C radiation along their entire length like a glowstick. By expanding the use of the GOFs, the Optical Waters team hopes to reduce reliance on toxic chemicals for disinfection and decrease harmful disinfection by-products. However, technical improvements to the GOFs are needed to increase the uniformity of the light profile. Current draw tower manufacturing methods and equipment are not able to optimize the light profile. Therefore, the specific objectives of this NSF SBIR Phase II project are to modify the manufacturing equipment in a draw tower and alter the optical configuration to increase the total light availability in the fiber. These objectives will increase the uniformity of light scattering along the length of the fiber and increase the length of GOFs that can be used in disinfection applications.