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Technologies
On a larger scale, new technological developments are a good way to minimize the effects of water pollution in both developed and developing countries. Some of these developments are specially designed to make clean water more accessible to countries where it is harder to find, by prioritizing compact designs and eco-friendly materials. In order to reduce water stress in the upcoming decades, there is high demand for innovative solutions to make clean water affordable, accessible, efficiently made, and high quality.
Water Cleaners
Super Socks
The Agricultural Research Service, or ARS, is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture. Their new super sock technology, which prevents storm water runoff pollution, consists of compost-filled mesh tubes. By wrapping the tubes around drains, pesticides, heavy metals, and petroleum products can be trapped safely without contaminating the water. Clay and silt can also be easily removed. The socks alone, when tested, removed 17 percent of ammonium nitrogen, as well as three-quarters of E.coli bacteria. The socks alone were also able to remove, on average, half of heavy metals. They decreased runoff from diesel fuel by 99 percent, motor oilby 84 percent, and gasoline by 43 percent. Evidently, the installation of super socks could make water safer for local communities.
Yet, when flocculation agents were added, the socks performed even better. They removed 10 percent more of ammonium nitrogen, 99 percent of E.coli bacteria, 99 percent of motor oil, and 10 percent more of gasoline.
LifeStraw
This technology, although not new, is still making waves. LifeStraw, originally launched in 1994, has grown so that it helps almost 37 million people across the world. Shaped like a straw, water is cleansed as it is sucked up the tube to the user’s mouth. Other variations, such as the LifeStraw Family purifier, which cleans large amounts of water, the Community purifier, for schools and public places, LifeStraw Go, a water bottle, and LifeStraw Mission, for camp like settings, have also been made.
Solar Power
As large water filtration projects are often consume large quantities of energy that may not be conventionally available, scientists have turned to solar power as a sustainable energy source for clean water.
Manik Jolly, CEO and founder of Grassroots and Rural Innovative Development Pvt Ltd, known as GRID, has taken advantage of solar power developments to spread water across rural parts of India. Essentially, reverse osmosis and UV filtration are used to make clean water. In the reverse osmosis section of the water filtration process, polluted water is forced through filters to remove any contaminants that may be dissolved. Then, UV light, or ultraviolet light, kills bacteria and viruses. Jolly has further developed this technology to meet the needs of larger villages by using a 5-stage filtration process. Here, solar power is key. Forcing contaminated water through a filter requires a pump, which naturally needs energy for pressure. Installed solar power panels allow for water filtration for at least ten hours a day without the harmful environmental effects of regular energy. 25,000 liters of water can be generated every day.
Likewise, MIT researchers have used solar power and reverse osmosis to make clean water in La Mancalona, Mexico. By using solar panels to sustain the reverse osmosis process and by training the villagers to use the technologies, the village has a sustainable source of clean water. Water is especially crucial for this specific village, as it is mostly made up of farmers. MIT’s work has also benefited villages in another way. Previously, families bought soda over water, as it was much cheaper. Now that clean water is affordable, families with this new technology are making healthier choices for their children.
ProCleanse Water Filtration
The unique aspect about the ProCleanse filtration bucket is that it requires no maintenance, as the filters do not need to be replaced. The bucket is cheap and also does not need energy to function properly. Therefore, it is suitable for families without these resources in developing countries. The bucket itself can support families for over five years with clean water in line with World Health Organization standards. Water is filtered through different chambers twice, once for larger debris and a second time for smaller pollutants like bacteria. Eight liters of water can be produced per hour, and the water can also be stored in the same device.
Drinkable Books
Developed by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University with Water is Life organization. The book educates people with advice about clean water and sanitation. The book pages themselves can also be ripped out as filtration sheets. The sheets reduce 99.9 percent of bacteria, and there are enough pages for four years of clean water per person per book.
Graphene Filter
Monash University and the University of Kentucky worked in collaboration to take advantage of graphene, a thin net of carbon atoms. Their filter cleans water nine times faster than current filters, and pollution that is larger than one nanometer large is removed. Essentially, once graphene oxide viscous is created, it can be spread into thin sheets. The filters can be produced quickly without large production costs.
Likewise, developed by and patented by Lockheed Martin, another graphene filter, a Perforene graphene filter, reduces the cost of desalination by 20 percent. Desalination, the turning of saltwater into freshwater, is often considered too expensive. The filter, one atom thick, also increases water flow by 500 percent.
Sand-Based Filter
Askwar Hilonga created a sand-based filter system for Tanzania, his home town, because of Tanzania’s need for clean water. Much of the accessible water is contaminated with pollutants and disease in Tanzania. Now, with Hilonga’s new filter system, 99.999 percent of contaminants can be removed, including bacteria, viruses, and metals. First, using sand buckets, larger pollutants are removed. Then, nanomaterials remove the smaller pollutants. The invention was awarded the London Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
Easing Collection
WaterSeer
Pioneered by UC Berkeley, the Peace Corps Association, and VICI Labs, the WaterSeer extracts water from the surrounding atmosphere. The bottom chamber of the device is extended six feet underground to cool the chamber. At the top of the device, a turbine is spun by the wind, which gather air to be condensed. Because of the temperature difference below ground, the air condenses into water droplets that can be harvested. A maximum of 37 liters can be pumped from the WaterSeer per day.
Fog Catching Nets
By setting up mesh nets, moisture from fog can be condensed into fresh water. For example, on Mount Boutmezguida in Morocco, 6,300 liters of fresh water can be harvested daily. This large-scale project was implemented by Dar Si Hmad, and it was awarded the 2016 Momentum for Change Award by the United Nations. Fog nets have been set up Chile, Peru, Ghana, and other countries as well.
Hippo Roller
The Hippo Roller is not new technology; it has been around for more than two and a half decades. However, it is still changing lives today. Developed by two South Africans, the Hippo Roller is a 90 liter barrel-shaped container that lasts for an estimated five to ten years. It has a steel handle along its side, which allows the barrel to be easily pushed and pulled. This reduces the strain on women and children's backs while multiplying the amount of water collected by almost five times. A small utility cap on the barrel allows water to be drawn with a lower risk of contamination. The barrel can also be used for irrigation.
Furthermore, the Hippo Roller has been tested against many terrains successfully. The Hippo Roller's various awards, such as the Frost & Sullivan 2016 African Rural Portable Water Solutions Product Leadership Award, add to its credibility.
Water Barrel
Inspired by the Hippo Roller and similar barrel technologies, CMU MechE seniors Deepak Ravi, Anna Mirabella, Jack Kaplan, Veronica Jaime-Lara, and Alex Bake took things a step further. Their water barrel filters the collected water as the 15-gallon barrel rolls.
The design of the barrel, the Water Transportation and Purification System, requires no electrical power or batteries, perfect for developing and rural communities. Its Sawyer water filer does not need to be replaced, and its industrial barrels, which would normally be thrown away, are recycled.
According to Mirabella, "The design is basically a big barrel with a smaller barrel inside of it, attached to a handle." As the barrel is rolled, "the relative motion between the handle and the spinning barrel pulls dirty water from the outer barrel through a filter and into the inner barrel where it stores the newly cleaned water."
Their design, estimated to be $40.00 when mass produced, is open source, so anyone can manufacture it. The students say that they would not be upset, only delighted to be a part of "something big."