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

[Marc Pare]

Was just talking to someone on the plane home about LifeStraw. The Stanford
Social Innovation Review has a nice critical article on the technology:

"Thirty Million Dollars, a Little Bit of Carbon, and a Lot of Hot Air --
Projects like Carbon for Water is a loopy funding scheme paired with a
lousy public health solution."
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/thirty_million_dollars_a_little_bit_of_carbon_and_a_lot_of_hot_air/

Marc Paré
B.S. Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology | Université de Technologie de Compiègne

my cv, etc. | http://notwandering.com


On Sat, Dec 24, 2011 at 1:29 AM, Frank Shields <frank at compostlab.com> wrote:

> 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****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
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> ** **
>
> *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-system-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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