Water-Related News

Inventor’s UV treatment eliminates E. coli, fecal matter from Banana Lake sample

LAKELAND — The results are impressive.

That’s what Megan Skeen, lab director at Phoslab Environmental in Lakeland, said about Robert “Bud” Duthie’s Micro HellCat. The Micro HellCat is a small unit that uses UVA and UVB light waves to kill bacteria and other contaminants.

Though they are ultraviolet waves, they’re not the traditional ultraviolet or UVC waves.

“Whatever he did, did a good cleanup on the microbiology and fecal,” Skeen said. “Looking at the decrease, especially in E. coli, that’s pretty impressive.”

Samples from Banana Lake, an impaired water body in South Lakeland, were taken by Duthie and submitted to the lab.

The results showed that Duthie’s Micro HellCat had eliminated E. coli and fecal matter from the sample and reduced nitrogen from 2.9 milligrams per liter to 1.8 milligrams. Reducing nitrogen levels will slow the growth of contaminants like toxic algae, but it’s the bacteria, Duthie said, that is making people sick.