Dr. Nyangaresie.
Dr. Nyangaresie. Credit: Mitacs Credit: Mitacs

Mitacs, Canada’s leading innovation organization, recognized eight Canadians for their game-changing contributions across diverse fields including digital technology, artificial intelligence, energy, sustainable solutions, and advanced manufacturing.  

Vancouver researcher, Dr. Paul Onkundi Nyangaresi, was awarded the Mitacs Innovation Award – Inclusive Innovator of the Year for his first-of-its kind water filtration system that provides clean drinking water to school children in his rural home village in Kenya.

The automated filtration system is designed to meet unique cultural and environmental needs with the potential to be replicated in Indigenous and rural communities across Canada

There are currently 28 long-term drinking water advisories (DWAs) in effect on 26 First Nations communities in Canada. Ontario has 24 advisories in 21 communities; Saskatchewan has 5 advisories in 4 communities and Manitoba has 3 advisories in 3 communities.

First Nations communities face disproportionately higher numbers of DWAs that are in place for longer periods of time than non-Indigenous communities. DWAs in First Nations communities are directly linked to chronically inadequate funding, inadequate regulations, and a dearth of resources to support water management.

As an Environmental Engineering and Electronic Science Technologist furthering his research in Canada, Dr. Nyangaresi has developed a low-cost, simple water disinfection system fueled by collected rainwater. The system successfully stores up to 10,000 litres, delivering 500 litres of clean water per day for drinking, cooking and washing.

Dr. Nyangaresi — a postdoctoral researcher working under the supervision of Professor Sara Beck in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia — is being recognized for devising a water treatment solution using emerging water treatment technologies like ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LED) disinfection that can be tailored to meet individual community’s cultural nuances and ways of life.   

“Sometimes projects with good intentions fail because the people implementing them don’t really know what the community wants. I lived there [Kisii County, Kenya] for many years, so I was able to understand and work out the unique issues they face,” said Dr. Nyangaresi. 

When Nyangaresi came to Canada in June 2021, folks in his hometown expected he would focus on earning money. Instead, the Postdoctoral researcher worked to find a way to help his community through his research.

Nyangaresi was able to install an ACUVA ArrowMax HOME UV LED disinfection system donated by Toronto-based Clear Inc., and then paired that technology with a Kenyan-designed filtration system that uses sand to remove disease-causing microorganisms.

“As long as there’s rain — which is abundant in that region — they have clean water and they don’t need any complex equipment or around-the-clock monitoring,” explained Dr. Nyangaresi, who estimates the cost of the system to be around $5,000. 

Understanding the need for culturally competent practices, Nyangaresi actively consulted with the community in research design, used and procured local materials to boost local economic development, and employed local talent to install the system, resulting in a solution that empowers community ownership and sustainability.

In addition to four awards for Outstanding Innovation, there were also individual awards honouring the Inclusive Innovator of the Year, Canadian Start-Up Innovator of the Year, Canadian Enterprise Innovator of the Year, and the award for Outstanding Research Leadership.

While congratulating the winners, Mitacs’s CEO Dr. Stephen Lucas reflected on the organization’s history, “As Mitacs celebrates 25 years as a leader in Canadian innovation, we reaffirm our belief that partnerships between research, enterprises, and talent — like the ones we honour with the Mitacs Innovation Awards — are key to a successful, prosperous Canada,” he said.

Doreen Nicoll

Doreen Nicoll is weary of the perpetual misinformation and skewed facts that continue to concentrate wealth, power and decision making in the hands of a few to the detriment of the many. As a freelance...