The burning of firewood throughout the developing world is a double-whammy for climate change. The first whammy is cutting down the trees (which absorb carbon); the second whammy is burning them, which releases their carbon into the atmosphere.
One of the biggest uses for wood fires around the world is purifying water — for drinking, for cooking, for bathing, and for laundry. In sub-Saharan Africa, as many as three out of four people purify their water by using solid fuel like wood, charcoal, kerosene, or coal to boil it.
The Solvatten Safe Water System
Now, a Swedish company, Solvatten, has invented a machine that purifies water using solar power. The Solvatten Safe Water System, a portable, 10-liter container, uses a combination of solar power, filtration, and UV rays to purify the water, a process that takes between two and six hours, depending on the weather. An indicator tells the user when the water is pure.
The World Wildlife Federation has selected Solvatten as a “Climate Solver.”
The company’s web site says, “Solvatten AB is looking for customers and partners for projects to provide safe drinking water in a sustainable way. We are taking orders for units to be shipped from spring 2010. Sales will be in batches of at least 72 units and customers distributing to developing countries will be prioritised.”
Haiti could certainly make quick use of tens of thousands of these units, as could remote communities around the world.
For purchasing information, e-mail info@solvatten.se.
