Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College (SLC) Applied Research have partnered with Purafy Clean Technologies Inc., of Kingston, ON to assess the water and energy saving potential of Purafy’s water treatment system. This multi-dimensional research and development project will last three years, with funding support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and provincial government channels.

The water treatment system has been installed at Kate’s Rest Foundation in Prince Edward County and will determine energy and water savings expected by lowering the volume of water utilities used onsite. This system operation will be assessed and validated throughout the duration of the Purafy, SLC, and Queen’s collaboration.

The Applied Research group at SLC will collaborate with Purafy’s technical staff in the test and performance evaluation of a novel system to clean grey water waste streams to drinking water quality standards. Research staff, research assistants, and student researchers from both the Cornwall and Kingston campuses of SLC will be involved in the project.

The goal is to create sustainable and secure groundwater levels for Canadian home and business owners, while also using this external pilot project as a branching point into international opportunities where water savings are essential due to the impacts of climate change, making the need for treated greywater essential, according to Cameron Runte, VP of Product Development at Purafy.

"Our need for clean water conservation is why the team at Purafy is leading the teams at SLC and Queen’s for both applied- and academic-level research and development for this Made-in-Canada technology," says Runte. "We foresee small businesses within both rural and urban regions playing a significant role in helping Purafy bring this new water conservation technology to market, to both implement and maintain these novel systems within our decentralized treatment network."

This Purafy-led team is focused on maintaining alignment within the newly unveiled Canadian Water Network (CWN) Strategic Plan for 2022-2027, wherein at the conclusion of the project, the technology will fully enable new water leaders to appear at the community-level with existing small businesses who become partners of Purafy.

"This support from the Government of Canada is a testament to the value that Applied Research at post-secondary institutions can bring to the world," says Glenn Vollebregt, President and CEO of St. Lawrence College. "Initiatives like this allow us to demonstrate our commitment to innovation and helping the communities that we serve, while providing world-class, practical opportunities for our students to showcase their skills and knowledge. Everyone involved in this collaboration is optimistic this work will advance the knowledge and processes around clean water technology while also resulting in future economic and even more importantly, environmental benefits."