Oliver Lawal’s journey into UV technology began with a curiosity that stretched back to childhood, when he would take apart anything he could get his hands on just to understand how it worked. That curiosity led him to study both electrical and mechanical engineering, and later to a career working with industrial process equipment. But it wasn’t until he encountered the emerging field of ultraviolet (UV) water treatment that his career took on a new sense of purpose. Drawn to the promise of a cleaner, chemical-free alternative to chlorine, Lawal dedicated himself to advancing UV as a safer, more effective way to disinfect water.
Over the years, Lawal became a recognized leader in the field, managing large-scale UV projects across Europe, North America, and beyond. Yet he remained unsettled by one flaw in the legacy systems: their reliance on mercury, a toxic element on track to be banned worldwide. Determined to find a better way, Lawal turned to a new technology—UV-C LEDs—and founded AquiSense Technologies in 2015 with the mission of delivering mercury-free, chemical-free disinfection solutions.
Today, AquiSense stands as the global leader in UV-C LED water technology, with installations ranging from municipal systems to those found in Coca-Cola machines in Germany.
We sat down with Founder and CEO, Oliver Lawal, to learn more about what inspired his path into UV technology, how AquiSense is disrupting the industry, and his vision for the future of sustainable disinfection.
How did you become interested in UV technology for disinfection applications?
OL: I was always a curious kid who liked taking things apart to see how they worked, so becoming an engineer felt inevitable. After graduating with degrees in both electrical and mechanical engineering from the University of Manchester in the mid-1990s, I started working with industrial process equipment, much of it involving plastics. I struggled with the environmental impact of that work, and around the same time, I discovered the growing field of non-chemical water treatment using ultraviolet (UV) light to inactivate organisms. Water treatment seemed like a more meaningful career path, and UV technology drew on electronics, fluid dynamics, mechanics, and process control—all areas I enjoyed.
For context, chlorine disinfection began in the early 1900s and, within 20 years, was adopted by nearly every water utility in the United States and Western Europe. Today, it’s about a $30 billion global market. Chlorine is inexpensive, effective, and kills most pathogens. However, it has serious drawbacks: it’s toxic to handle, produces harmful disinfection byproducts (DBPs) that affect taste and odor, and is ineffective against some chemical-resistant pathogens, such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
UV technology, in contrast, is a highly effective, non-chemical method with no toxic byproducts or blind spots. Powerful UV lamps—several times stronger than sunbed lamps—can disinfect water streams in just a few seconds, making it possible to treat very large flows almost instantly.
In the late 1990s, I rode the wave of growth in the UV industry, which has now become a $1.5 billion market growing at 8–10% annually—faster than the water sector overall. I managed major municipal UV projects in the UK, France, and New Zealand, then moved to Germany to run a global service network. When my company was acquired by ITT Industries (now Xylem), I relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, to lead engineering and product development. Later, I became a U.S. President for a competitor company and eventually moved to their headquarters in Northern Kentucky.
What inspired you to become a founder?
OL: Traditional UV lamps contain mercury, which is highly toxic to humans and the environment. If a lamp breaks, it creates serious problems for a water treatment plant. Mercury is also on track to be banned worldwide under the United Nations Minamata Convention. On top of that, mercury lamps have other limitations: restricted on/off cycling, long warm-up times, and fouling from the heat they generate.
Even though I was proud of reducing chemical use in water treatment, mercury always bothered me. While at ITT, I followed the progress of LEDs moving into the UV range. Just as LEDs were replacing light bulbs in TVs, monitors, car headlights, and general lighting, I realized they could also disrupt UV disinfection.
As company president, I pursued this vision, partnering with a start-up at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Their head of development, Jennifer Pagan, had just completed her PhD on UV-LEDs for disinfection. With her technical expertise and my market experience, we believed disruption was possible.
But development was slow. Although we had working prototypes, my shareholders grew frustrated that profits from mercury lamps were being reinvested into UV-LEDs. Call it stubbornness, or call it vision, I founded a new company, AquiSense. Founded with the sole purpose of commercializing mercury-free, chemical-free water disinfection products. With Jennifer and some of her team, we launched the first commercial mercury-free, chemical-free water disinfection product within six months. AquiSense has led the UV-C LED water technology space ever since.
Just as important, our products aren’t only disruptive, they’re constructive. They solve problems that previously had no solution.
Tell us about your team: Who’s on it?
OL: Jennifer is our CTO and leads product development in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our headquarters are located in Erlanger, Kentucky, near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Wes Morin, a long-time colleague from my mercury lamp days, built our world-class production facility from the ground up and manages everything from small-scale products to large customer projects.
Our CFO, Stu Bauman, a Miami University graduate, joined us from a prior investor’s company. Aaron Leber leads North American sales in Louisville, Kentucky, while European sales are managed by UV veteran Thomas Arnold in Germany. We also have engineers and sales managers in the United Kingdom, Italy, India, and Japan.
We’re fortunate to be near several top universities and institutions, which have allowed us to hire excellent graduates from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University, Miami University, Louisiana State University, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Our customer base ranges from start-ups to global corporations, including NASA, Coca-Cola, Mitsubishi, Abbott, and leading universities worldwide.
Where do you see disinfection technology headed in the future?
OL: Mercury-based UV is on its way out. Why would a facility invest in a 20-year mercury system, requiring lamp replacements every year or two, when regulations may soon ban mercury, especially with better, proven alternatives available? Customers across industries—municipal, wastewater, beverage, and pharma—report ongoing issues with mercury UV. At the end of the day, we shouldn’t be using a neurotoxin for water treatment.
AquiSense is often described as “skating to where the puck is going,” borrowing Wayne Gretzky’s principle. UV-C LEDs follow Haitz’s Law (the LED version of Moore’s Law), showing a 20X increase in light output and 10X cost reduction every decade. This trend continues, while mercury systems have nearly reached their limits.
Currently, our UV-C LED lamps have replacement intervals of about two years—comparable to mercury systems—but as Haitz’s Law drives improvements, future replacements will only get better and cheaper.
Just as important, our products aren’t only disruptive, they’re constructive. They solve problems that previously had no solution. For example, our systems are now being installed in ice machines across the United States and in every Coca-Cola dispensing machine in Germany, both notorious pathogen hotspots that finally have a viable fix.
What does success look like to AquiSense in the short term and long term?
OL: Although still small, AquiSense is the clear leader in UV-C LED technology for water treatment. Our products today are far simpler, smaller, and more advanced than our first generation. We’ve built a strong brand, earned broad patents, and sold more than 500,000 units. With a recent investment round, we’re on track to exceed significant annual revenue in a high-growth, multibillion-dollar segment of the water treatment industry.
We see ourselves as partners with our customers, deeply focused on their needs and translating those into differentiated products that leverage LED’s strengths. Over the past decade, we’ve built deep supplier relationships, generated vast operating data, advanced multi-generation product plans, and secured a strong IP portfolio. We also continue to collaborate with universities worldwide to push the science forward.
Looking ahead, whether we remain independent or are acquired by a larger company, our goal is to stay nimble, innovative, and fast-moving. With a stable and experienced leadership team that has worked together for years, we’re well-positioned to continue leading the industry.
Find out more about AquiSense at aquisense.com/. Are you a startup based in or looking to relocate to Kentucky? Keyhorse’s current quarterly investment cycle is open! Apply now.
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