| water water everywhere and drop by drop to drink! |
[Jan. 5th, 2005|09:22 pm] |
Appropriate Technology Affordable Solar Water Desalination
ok. so they say water, drinkable water is getting scarce. according to the UNEP by 2025 two out of every three people on the planet will be living in "Water-Stressed" conditions. And as climate change escalates, there will be a need for more alternative methods for agriculture (lots of hydroponics and indoor/underground farms-- which will all require water), we are simply going to have to get more water into circulation. And while many overdeveloped nations will undoubtedly have offshore wave/wind systems with built-in desalination systems, I can’t say I’m really worried about them. Those tech fetishists will get along fine. But that’s hardly 2 out of every 3 people…. And what’s more striking is that the above mentioned UNEP document is from 2000 and the list of most “Water-stressed conditions” reads like the present list of Tsunami countries. Indonesia and India topping the list. So two things are apparent; one, that many places that are in dire need of water, will not have the funds for the high tech turbine/desalinators, they need a more affordable solution. And even more important is that these people need drinking water now, as the situation has become a thousand times worse.
Well Agua delSol in sunny Arizona manufactures and sells solar water desalinators based on the designs of company founder and Solar Pioneer, Horace McCracken (I had the honor of meeting Mr. McCracken a few years before he passed away, and this amazingly inspiring man had many inventions that are sure to be well know as we progress trough the 21st century). The process is ingenious buy very simple:
Sea-water is contained in an elevated cistern, and gravity fed into the Desalinator. Which is a rectangular box. The box is raised in the back, so that the glass-top has a 40 degree angle to the bottom. All day long the sun passes through the glass and heats up the water which evaporates. As it beads of water roll down the glass and are caught and collected. While one can easily make a few gallons of water per day—like any good design, they're modular,
so you can link them up in a grid and collect as much water as needed.
If it were my birthday and I was about to blow out some candles, my wish right now would be that who ever is in charge of getting water to the victims of the tsunami know about this technology. |
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
scalarparty's journal