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

[ajheggie at gmail.com]

Andrew, it's good to know that there are other things to consider in a 
micro filtering device. Are these problems like biofilms to do with the 
substrate offered by the filters? Are they plastic? The late Ron Rivera 
of potters for peace made water purifying jugs  with silver impregnated 
in the porous walls to act as a biocide, how would these compare?

I accept that the water has to be free of dissolved mineral poisons but 
the chief problem must be pathogens??

I speak from ignorance of the practicalities, though I did assist a school 
trip though our local water treatment works and the final dose of a few 
ppm of chlorine was the "coup de grace" after the water was filtered then 
floculated and oxygenated. I'm spoilt because all the water from the our 
mains is potable, even though only a small percentage actually gets used 
in food , drinks or food preparation.


On Sunday 25 December 2011 22:46:25 Andrew C. Parker wrote:
> My
> in-laws in Ecuador always boil their drinking and cooking water
> (Ecuador subsidizes propane for cooking, so no wood or charcoal is
> burned), and some people boil bath and laundry water as well (after
> bath/shower disinfectants are a big seller).  It is nice to have clear
> water from the tap, when it works, but by the time it reaches the
> customer, it may still appear clear but has been contaminated with who
> knows what.

Interesting because elsewhere in this thread there is the claim that water 
is not usually boiled in the target market for this lifestraw. Even then 
in your cited case there is an obvious carbon cost in boiling because 
fossil fuels are used but in the African case?


The politics of this lifestraw presentation seem convoluted. An 
entrepreneurial company have developed the device but there is no mass 
commercial market for it, it's unaffordable in the target market. The 
people behind the distribution of the device can sell the sponsorship of 
it by issuing carbon credits, are they voluntary? It strikes me they will 
go far in the western world.

AJH