[Stoves] Drinking straw that eliminates the need to cut any firewood at all

[Frank Shields]

Dear Crispin,

 

I think it a big mistake to think this type of system will do much to
provide safe water. In fact I think it will do more to promote illnesses by
giving false impression they are drinking safe water therefore not taking
the time to boil. Way to much of a chance to contact dirty water when using
the straw and when clogged, to keep trying to use it before buying (?)
another. Kids will certainly not use it properly. It would be much better
IMO to get a 'big straw' and have a responsible person make safe a large
quantity of water stored for all to use.  If it can be done in a straw it
should be able to be done on a larger scale at a much lower cost. 

 

Regards

Frank

 

 

Frank Shields

42 Hangar Way

Watsonville,  CA  95076

(831) 724-5244 tel

(831) 724-3188 fax

frank at bioCharlab.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Crispin
Pemberton-Pigott
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 9:11 AM
To: Stoves
Subject: [Stoves] Drinking straw that eliminates the need to cut any
firewood at all

 

Dear Friends

 

This is a device that eliminates the need to boil water to sterilise it
before drinking. I do not have figures handy for Kenya showing how much (if
any) fuel is used purely for purifying drinking water, but were this
approach to reduce the need for stoves and fuel it will have an impact on
the natural environment and health in the household.

 

Regards

Crispin

+++++++++


LifeStraw: A Filtration System That Saves Millions of Lives and Dollars

By medGadget

Dec 21 2011, 4:02 PM ET 1

A cheap, easy to use, and highly effective tool, the LifeStraw is able to
kill nearly 100 percent of the bacteria and viruses found in water

Here at Medgadget we cover the latest in high-tech medicine, so it is no
surprise that many of the devices we profile help doctors save lives, but
cost millions of dollars. That is due primarily to the fact that the
developed world has overcome diseases and conditions, such as diarrhea and
dysentery, that continue to ravage large swathes of the Third World. Yet
cheap technological solutions exist that can save millions right now, and
LifeStraw from Vestergaard Frandsen, is a perfect example. The Swiss company
that makes it has been supplying mosquito nets to regions suffering from
malaria and is now addressing diseases arising from dirty water with a
device that purifies it at the point of consumption.

We recently had a chance to sit down with Elisabeth AnneMarie Wilhelm from
Vestergaard Frandsen, who gave us an overview of the company's efforts.
Because a lack of clean water -- and the infrastructure to supply it -- is
typically due to more structural issues within the affected nations, there
is often no hope that water treatment plants are going to be built and pipes
installed any time soon. And so for decades entire regions around the world
have been resorting to boiling water using locally chopped wood as their
only option of purification. Not only is this probably not very good for the
environment, the amount of time and labor spent harvesting wood could be
going into other tasks, like laying pipe for example.
The LifeStraw Family is a cheap, easy to use, and highly effective
filtration system that will remove just about all pathogens (99.9999 percent
of bacteria, 99.99 percent of viruses, and 99.9 percent of protozoan
parasites) from water that is poured through it. The device requires no
electricity and is a purely mechanical filter that relies on the weight of
the water in the one-meter-tall column to perform the filtration. Because of
the design of the device and, unlike the previous iteration, the fact that
it does not use any chemicals for water treatment, it has been shown to work
effectively for at least 18,000 liters (that's three years for a family of
four), and possibly for a lot longer if proper regular cleaning using the
blowback pump is performed. And unlike a multi-million dollar water
treatment plant, the LifeStraw does this for about $25 and without the local
government having to be competent or caring.

One current project that doesn't require any private charity or government
assistance that revolves around the LifeStraw is Carbon for Water.
Vestergaard Frandsen, a for-profit firm, has been able to distribute about
four million LifeStraws throughout a province in Kenya by collecting funds
via carbon credits that are traded in exchange for the saved carbon from all
the firewood that would have been burned. Whatever your view on global
warming and carbon credits, not having to have four million people burn
firewood every day while improving their lives and their health is not a bad
proposition.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/12/lifestraw-a-filtration-sys
tem-that-saves-millions-of-lives-and-dollars/250245/#.TvM9WyxWMk0.facebook

------------
Forwarded by Don Calkins who says

"He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not."

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