Tag: water

LifeStraw for Clean Water

lifestraw

Newsweek is running a story with an accompanying video about the the LifeStraw -a $3 gadget that cleans water. Regular readers here will remember that we covered the LifeStraw back in OCtober when LifeStraw was doing preliminary tests.

Most of the LifeStraw’s users will never drink anything fancier than plain water through the device. But its impact on their lives can’t be overstated. More than 1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water, and 6,000 people die each day of waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera and dysentery. In regions like sub-Saharan Africa, half of most people’s water consumption takes place outside the home—either while they’re working, or walking to and from school. Vestergaard Frandsen S.A.—which also produces mosquito nets and plastic sheeting coated with insecticide to fend off malaria—hopes that the $3 LifeStraw will drastically lessen their chances of getting sick.

Air Shower Uses Less Water

Some Australians have invented a shower head that adds some air to water to get some super O in the H2O. The article points out that Australians are becoming more concerned about their water usage, yeah for environmental awareness.

“The scientists have developed a simple ‘air shower’ device which, when fitted into existing showerheads, fills the water droplets with a tiny bubble of air. The result is the shower feels just as wet and just as strong as before, but now uses much less water.”

Ducks for Desalination

ducky thingWater is becoming more precious round the world, yet the oceans are filled with the wet. If someone found a way to turn salty water into potable water easily and cheaply there would be a lot less thirsty people out there.

Stephen Salter at Edinburgh University has found a way to use the power of waves to remove salt from water. Desalination takes a lot of energy and by using waves, the energy cost obviously is a lot lower. The system is shaped like a duck and works by popping in the water and using that force to steam water for clean, drinkable goodness.

THe inventor also invented the first system to use wave energy for electric power and he was inspired to make this system from a trip to India.
“I visited India just after they had missed two monsoons and water was becoming a worry,” Salter told New Scientist. “I thought that using wave power for desalination would be a neat idea.”

Lifestraw a Life Saver

he looks highGlobally, about 6,000 people a day die from water-borne disease. These are preventable deaths but, in many places it is too expensive to provide clean water for everyone and as a result people contract water-borne diseases. A fancy new drinking straw can stop 99.99% of parasites and bacteria from drinking water.

It’s called the Lifestraw and is currently being tested in the field. It is not as small as your average straw, but it’s small enough to wear around your neck. The manufacturing costs are low too – only $3 per unit. 70,000 units were handed out to earthquake victims in Kashmir last year. More testing is needed, but this is off to a very promising start!

Thanks, Kathryn!

Water from Air

A company has created a way to extract water from plain old air. This is a great tool to help people in areas where water is scarce or hard to make potable. It can be a great help in areas hit by a disaster too.

“We figured out how to tap it in a very unique and proprietary way,” Sher said. “We figured out how to mimic nature, using natural salt to extract water and act as a natural decontamination.

“Think of the Dead Sea, where nothing grows around it because the salt dehydrates everything. It’s kind of like that.”

The 20-foot machine can churn out 600 gallons of water a day without using or producing toxic materials and byproducts. The machine was displayed on Capitol Hill last week where a half-dozen lawmakers and some staffers stopped by for a drink.

“It was very interesting to see the technology in action and learn about its possible implementation in natural disasters,” said Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr., a Republican from Florida whose hurricane-prone district includes Fort Lauderdale.

The research and development into this technology was need-driven by the US Army wanting a way to keep soldiers fueled to fight. It’s unfortunate that this device is created out of a need to kill than a need to help live. That being said, this technology has lots of potential to help many people in need around the world.