Clean water treatment system from snack bags

The University of Adelaide group of students has successfully designed a simple, inexpensive clean water treatment system from snack bags, plywood and glass pipes for a total cost of about $ 67.

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According to the research team, the system has a very simple method of installation and operation, so everyone can access and use it easily. The above method is both environmentally friendly because it can significantly reduce the amount of waste, while helping to create a clean water source for people, which is a pressing issue in many parts of the world today.

In some developed countries, clean water seems to be a fairly simple and easy problem. However, in many other places on Earth, having a safe, clean water source to use is a rather luxurious concept. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the US Department of Health, an average of one in nine people worldwide cannot access safe water (equivalent to 780 million people). An unsafe water source contains many dangerous pathogens for humans. It is estimated that out of 1.5 million deaths per year, 90% of deaths are due to problems related to dirty water.

Picture 1 of Clean water treatment system from snack bags

In an attempt to solve the problem of clean water, the University of Adelaide team of researchers has partnered with ChildFund Australia and conducted research in many communities in Papua New Guinea. Here, most people use large barrels to store rainwater, which is an easily contaminated source of water. The group's goal is not only to create a simple water treatment system, but also to find the simplest way for people to create and operate that system themselves.

Initially, the group used high quality materials to develop a water treatment system. Then, based on the original basic design, the team sought to create a similar system but used simple materials that were easy to find at a much cheaper price. Basically, this is a system that uses glass tubes to store water, then uses reflective material to wrap around the surrounding to focus and reflect sunlight. It is UV-A radiation from the Sun that stimulates an oxidation reaction that reverses the DNA that destroys the bacteria. Finally, the group chose to use a used snack bag because the inside is often shiny and can effectively reflect sunlight. According to the report, the system can reduce E. Coli content in water to undetectable in less than 30 minutes.

Picture 2 of Clean water treatment system from snack bags
Water treatment model of the research team

According to the lead researcher, Cristian Birzer: "The ultimate goal of research is not an end-user device. It's merely a concept, a method that everyone can transport. It is easy to use, so the method will be cheap and can be mass-produced to meet the needs of the majority of users. connect many small systems together ".

At a price of US $ 67, the system can clean about 40 liters of water in just 4 hours. Combining multiple systems together will create and process larger volumes of water to supply large population communities. Currently, the model is being piloted in some communities in PNG, if successful, the model will be replicated for the whole country or even many other places in the world to solve The issue of clean water always exists.

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