Getting, saving and cleaning Water
More appropriate solutions and technologies: www.alternative-technology.de/overview.html
Worldwide, more than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water.
It is estimated that over 70% of the diseases in the developing countries are caused by contaminated water
The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
Waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, gastroenteritis, dysentery, and infectious hepatitis kill more than 400 developing-world children every hour, and result in the loss of billions of hours of worker productivity each year.
Home-delivered, municipal, tap water is uncommon in developing countries, and two out of three people in the world must fetch water from outside their homes.
In India, water purity issues are particularly important during the monsoon season when heavy rainfall washes raw sewage and other contaminated material from the fields into the wells and surface water.
A leading cause of death for developing-world children is unsanitary drinking water. According to UNICEF, in
1993, 3.8 million developing-world children under age 5 died from diarrheal diseases caused primarily by impure drinking water (Easterbrook, 1994)
Drinking water hazards: dead animals upstream, the larvae of flukes are particularly dangerous in area frequented by sheep, deer, or cattle
The cost per person per year for having 10 liters of safe drinking water every day is just $6 USD.
Drinking water from the air
All the fresh water available worldwide originally comes from the atmospheric water vapour in our air envelope. The atmospheric water vapour, which is present everywhere, is first bound from the air with a special hygroscopic brine (salt solution) and in parallel extracted as pure water in an energy-efficient separation process. Target cost: 3 euros per l000 litres of water.
This process works with a low-cost special textile.
https://www.designboom.com/technology/cloudfisher-fog-net-water-foundation-02-02-17
https://www.aqualonis.com/cloudfisher
A rather expensive process: The central element is a metal-organic framework structure. This highly porous, crystalline material works like a sponge. It absorbs water from the ambient air and stores it in the nanometre-sized pores inside it. The heat of the sunlight is enough to release the precious liquid again. The water evaporates from the nanopores and condenses on the cooling fins of the collector. From there, it trickles into a container with drinking water quality.
Sources
Water harvesting from air with metal-organic frameworks powered by natural sunlight
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/04/12/science.aam8743
• Using showers instead of baths (baths: 150 l, showers 60 l). In the past there was a washbowl and washcloths (20 l).
• When washing hands with soap, close the faucet in between
• Using a tooth mug for cleaning the tooth.
• Only briefly flush the toilet or use a toilette with an “economy button”,
• Run the dishwasher in an Eco-washing cycle
• Clean fruit and vegetables in a bowl.
• Use economy shower head and flow limiter: There are devices connected to the Tap or shower for using less water for washing hands and shower (by mixing with oxygen).
• Laundry and dish-washing use around 20 percent of total household water. Cleaning laundry efficiently: Washing machines should be fully loaded.
• Thanks to modern cold washing agents, lower temperatures are usually sufficient.
• Even in older washing machines there are often programs with shorter washing times and less water consumption.
• Washing without prewashing is often not a loss of comfort, but it saves a lot of water, energy and protects the clothes. If the laundry is very dirty, it is better to wash longer instead of hotter.
• The laundry can also be pre-treated with special soap.
• For washing agents there are natural substitutes to protect the water like washing with the soapnut and washing balls with ceramics.
• Replace old devices by energy and water-saving versions.
• The tap is dripping, there is a leak in the shower hose and the cistern is leaking? Porous seals can easily be replaced. Using vinegar to remove lime.
• 70 % of the water is used for agriculture and garden. Professional irrigation-technologies like irrigation in the late night, drip-irrigation or sub-surface drip-irrigation (see extra document) can save a lot water and protect the soil (less salination): The looser the soil, the better the water reaches the plants.
• Mulching covers the soil with grass cuttings, bark or compost. This keeps plant roots cool, the soil loses moisture more slowly and weed growth is slowed down.
• Watering at the right time: preferably in the early morning or evening hours
• Water the lawn only in dryness or not at all, it recovers quickly in the rain!
• Increasing the water price with releasing hints how to save water could motivate to save water.
• Collect rain-water and use it for irrigation and toilette. It is perfect for irrigation because it has no salt and minerals like osmosis water.
• Using ocean-water with reverse-osmosis plants to get sweet-water for all (needs energy but the membrane gets more cheap now!).
• A lot of water is used for power-generation. Using more wind and Solar-energy could reduce the water-demand.
• Grey-water recycling (water of the washing machine, shower etc) could save a lot. Bigger units are more efficient.
• Getting potable water direct from the ambient-air by special textiles (3 liter / qm / day). See extra document appropriate_technologies.
• Business-impulse: Private company for investigation of water losses, consultant and recommendation of changes and devices. There is a electronic device to verify water-losses.
Urine, the gold of agriculture! Eat healthy food and take only necessary drugs. Then the quality of the Urine. Use for Urine an extra Camping toilette. Mix it with water (1:5 urine/water) and use it as excellent fertilizer. And you save a lot of water for flushing the Urine.
Up do 1/3 of the home-water is used in many countries only for to flush the toilette. Especially older people often go to toilette and every time a huge amount of water is wasted.
Nature is a circular-system and animal and human excreta should be used to increase the fertility of the soil. See extra document Advanced_agriculture_technologies for more. But even if we are not using it for agriculture we can save a lot of water by separate the Urine from the rest.
.Buy a camping-toilette (about $ 25) and use it only for the Urine, it is protected against bad smell.
.If it is not possible to use it for agriculture another way is to store it temporally and when feces need to be flushed away, this Urine could be used including some more fresh water to flush all away. In that way water used for toilette can be saved.
.Motivating people could be by money they save for using less water. Ensure that buying this toilette very easy for a good price could speed up the process.
.If it is possible to collect the Urine a good business is to recycle it to get the precious nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium back.
.In order to avoid the little smell outside in the garden, it is possible to dig a plastic bottle (open at both sides) in the ground and fill the bottle with Urine / water (using a funnel) and close it again on the upper side (with a small hole in the lid) or leaving it open. In any case it is much more efficient to bring the water deep in the soil and not on top (evaporation).
Business-impulse: Private company for distribution of Urine-collecting devices, collecting them filled and professional recycling in the cities. The city needs less water and a precious resource for agriculture is generated.
Starting with some simple and cheap technologies.
The human Exkrement are very precious fertizer if managed properly!
A composting toilet is a type of dry toilet that uses a predominantly aerobic processing system to treat human excreta, by composting or managed aerobic decomposition. These toilets generally use little to no water and may be used as an alternative to flush toilette.
at least 50-100 m away from the next spring. Hole max. 1 m above Ground-Water level. Never flood the Hole. Rain should not come into the hole. Lid from wood hat flies may not come in. Air-Pipe should have a mosquito-net at the end. If possible put sand or ash in the hole after using, to reduce smell and coming of the fly.
https://www.germantoilet.org/en
http://www.loolaboo.com/
Water is placed in transparent plastic PET bottles, which is first oxygenated by shaking partially-filled capped bottles prior to filling the bottles all the way. The completely water-filled and capped bottles are exposed to sunlight, preferably on a corrugated metal roof, slanted slightly to maximize the exposure to solar radiation. For six hours in full sun, or for two days in partial sunlight.
Microbes are destroyed by temperature and UVA radiation provided by the sun. The combination of the two effects (UVA and heat) provides a simple method of disinfection for use in tropical countries.
The use of glass bottles may or may not provide the same effect (thicker etc).
The researchers gave 206 Masai children clear, 1.5-liter plastic bottles. The children in the test group were told to fill the bottles (from the contaminated water supply) and place them on the roof, from dawn to midday. The control group kept their bottles inside. Diarrhea incidence in the two groups was tracked over 12 weeks. The researchers found that this solar radiation method may significantly reduce diarrheal disease for communities that have no other way to disinfect water. More on www.sodis.ch
Boiling water will kill bacteria as well as other disease-causing microorganisms like Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum which are commonly found in rivers and lakes. Water temperatures above 70 °C (158 °F) will kill all pathogens within 30 minutes, above 85 °C (185 °F) within a few minutes, and at boiling point (100 °C (212 °F)), most pathogens will be killed.
Boiling cannot remove chemicals, nor heavy metal contamination, e.g., colloidal metal pollutants
To improve quality: Pre-filtering by a fine meshed cloth, let the water settle before;
Let the water sit for a few hours after boiling in a vessel, the water picks up air and loses its bland taste. Improve the taste by flavoring plant materials adding during boiling. If done properly, boiling is a very effective and simple disinfection method, but requires a significant amount of energy, if not used the sun directly.
A combination of heating plus filtering with activated charcoal can neutralize most pathogens and pollutants.
This process can be realized by a Solar-cooker.
How does the cleaning of water works?
The transport of the water works through a small pump, for example a old pump of a car for to clean the wind-screen. In this way you have the water directly where you need it for example in the kitchen. The Heat-exchanger can be delivered by Alternative Technology, if necessary also other components. But isn’t it more interesting doing the things by yourself? You find more on:
www.alternative-technologie.de/Solar-Cooker/solar-cooker.html
Uses UV-C light in the short wavelength range of 100–280 nm prevents microbes from reproducing. Without reproduction, the microbes become far less dangerous.
Water turbidity must be low! Thin water films are necessary! Many substances inhibit the transmission of the light. The water must be pre-filtered. some severe disadvantages! The UV lamp requires replacement annually; No Standards-Lamps, expensive!. Eliminate waterborne pathogens (germs, viruses, and molds)
UV disinfection does not kill giardia or have a residual effect on bacteria that may be reintroduced into the water after UV treatment.
Problem: Bacteria which hide behind pollution. Filter before to improve that
UV-treated water must therefore not be exposed to visible light before consumption to avoid ingesting reactivated and dangerous microbes.
It is the viruses that is the limiting factor of UV treatment.
The proposed technology uses ultraviolet (UV) light to from the local water supply.
Consuming a total of 40 watts, the system disinfects approximately 30 liters of water per minute;
The estimated one-time capital cost of an ultraviolet system is $500, including valve, fittings, and labor. the UV lamp requires replacement annually.
Bacteria and viruses often accumulate bigger particles!
Lamp must be pre-glowed.
at low filtration-rates and sufficient oxygen content of raw-water, biological activity can be observed; reduction of 50 - 70 % of organic and inorganic coarse and fine particles
Filter-medium: coarse sand 3-4 mm; cleaning of the filter, 5-10 min every day, to prevent the filter-bed of
clogging; better results: decreasing grain-size to top;
can remove many pollutants, without removing pathogens. Reduces chemicals, has better taste.
If not used can be a breeding ground for bacteria. No visible indication of when needs to be replaced.
Remove the very first water of a new candle. There can be a critical concentration of charcoal dust.
With Silber-Ions: There is a concentration which could be dangerous
Can also remove Pesticide-agent and their Metabolite or Medical remains
If the water is not too turbid (may clog the pores)
If the pore-size smaller than 1.5 um, the pathogens get removed also;
Filter with bigger pores remove only microorganisms as cysts and worm eggs are removed
strands of thread-like Leptospira spp. Bacteria, (that can cause leptospirosis), are thin enough to pass through a 0.2 micrometer filter
Afterwards.cleaning: brushing under running water, boiling the candle; low filtration without pressure!
The elements themselves can become colonization sites. In recent years some filters have been enhanced by bonding silver metal nanoparticles to the ceramic element and/or to the activated charcoal to suppress growth of pathogens.
Ceramic filters filter 5,000 to 50,000 liters per cartridge
excellent results! also removal of bacteria; 2,14 l/day; 1 year longlivity; 55-65% loam, 30-35% crushed feldspar or 20-40 % sand, 5-10% sawdust, 3,2% colloid silver; Guatemala 7,70$; Silver verhindert weiteres Wachstum; auch in Britta-Filter drin
Also anti-bacterial (Schmutzdecke), but slow flow, sufficient oxygen in the raw water, steady temperature.
Constant flow is necessary!
Because the wells are more than 200 feet deep, the water has been sealed beneath an impermeable layer of earth for a long time and is commonly bacteria-free. One disadvantage of obtaining water from a deep tube-well is that many people dislike the taste. Because the water is old, it has a high dissolved salt content, and many people prefer the taste of fresher, surface water. Additionally, deep tube-wells can be expensive and time-consuming to construct because of the specialized deep-drilling equipment that is required.
chlorine (best and most tested but not easy to get and store this chemicals), iodine, bromine, ozone;
Kills all pathogens and more. In addition, chlorine has a residual effect; that is, if bacteria are reintroduced into a chlorinated water supply, the new bacteria will die. Although chlorine disinfection is a well-proven technique, it has a few disadvantages. Often, people dislike the taste and smell of chlorinated water. In addition, because it is easy to overdose water with chlorine, it is necessary for a trained person to test chlorine levels before water is consumed.
Silver+Chlorine: 20-35min contact;
Ozone makes oxidation of solved organic elements and removes bacteria, viruses and germs. With the Aeration, one saturates waters with air. You combine with air water in a manner that there is maximum of contact. By this procedure, you remove smell and bad taste and expels transient gases f.e.. Chlorine. Furthermore, iron and manganese-Solutions are transferred in insoluble oxide-hydrates. These can be removed afterwards by filtration.
Removes all suspended particles, filters all ionized or adequately big-molecular materials from the water, also all minerals and trace elements.
Removes almost everything; but water can be remineralised after treatment. Or add 10% of untreated Water to it.
The pH gets to about. 5,5.
A disadvantage is the large volume of unused waste water. But can be used for toilette, garden etc.
For the desalinating of sea water, the reversal-osmosis is more advantageous than the more expensive energy-intensive distillation. Reversal-osmosis is applied in the industry or in laboratories in order to produce chemically (almost) pure H2O.
The cost drop to 100-1000 Euro. The filter must be changed about every year. The costs are about 20 $. The membrane must be changed about all 3 years, but depends on the quantity of water to be produced.
Links: Here a good supplier
Biosand water Filter
LifeSaver bottle, filters with a combination of hand pump, filter membranes and a charcoal filter. This new system removes particles larger than 15 nm, and thus is able to filter-out viruses. More on
http://www.lifesaversystems.com/techinfo.html
The LifeStraw removes particles larger than 15 microns with a set of two membrane filters and a carbon filter. The polymer membrane filters are impregnated with antimicrobial halogens to kill pathogens, and the carbon filter is impregnated with silver to inactivate residual halogens from the membrane filters. More on
http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw-specifications.htm
EM-Ceramic-Filter
Combination out of activated carbon and effective microorganisms
This is suitable for the production of cleaned and biologically active drinking water
Aeration
remove unpleasant taste and odors and colour
2-4 weeks storage
can reduce bacteria from 50-90 %
Homemade water filters
Using local materials such as grass, charcoal (e.g. from burned firewood), and sand.
A lot is taken from the wonderful Wikipedia so go there for further information like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_water_purification
www.flowthefilm.com/takeaction
http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home
UNRIC – Water: http://www.unric.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=5&id=129&Itemid=155
http://www.lifesaversystems.com/techinfo.htmll
http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw/lifestraw
http://www.watermissions.org/the-living-water-tm-treatment-system
Water, what a wonderful and precious resource!