Product of the Year Award for Cleaning Device

An ultrasonic cleaning device which can enhance the ability of water to clean was declared ‘Product of the Year’ by S-Lab (Safe, Successful and Sustainable Laboratories) at a Gala Dinner held at Kings College London last month.

Invented and patented by the University of Southampton and in commercial production by Ultrawave Ltd, StarStream supplies a gentle stream of water through a nozzle that generates ultrasound and bubbles, dramatically improving the cleaning power of water with reduced additives and heating.

With the ability to both clean with cold water and recycle it savings in energy and water savings are said to range from between 79% - 99%. It also requires no detergent minimising groundwater and stream pollution.

Recent independent tests are reported to have found it to be 1,000 more effective than water alone in decontamination tests of the microorganism Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major cause of hospital acquired infections.

Professor Tim Leighton from the University of Southampton’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, who co-developed StarStream, said: “We are extremely pleased with the performance of StarStream and the partnership with Ultrawave Ltd. It has been a very long road from the initial idea to such a product.

“It would be hard to overstate the value of the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award which rescued us by providing a platform to partner with Ultrawave Ltd. and by funding collaboration across the University to research new applications.”

John Melville, Managing Director of Ultrawave Ltd said: “Ultrawave has been searching for the next big idea in ultrasonic cleaning for several years. We believe that by taking ultrasonic cleaning ‘out of the tank’, StarStream is just that.

The research was led by Professor Leighton and Dr Peter Birkin from Chemistry, initially with their former students Doug Offin and Chris Vian, with funding from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.