Trinity team pilots solar water system
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FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor
A NEW solar-powered water disinfection system could revolutionise the provision of clean water in developing countries, according to a research team at Trinity College Dublin.
“The unit is low-cost and requires little or no energy to run, so it’s ideal for use in remote locations where sunshine is an abundant resource,” said Joanne MacMahon, who is doing a PhD in environmental engineering.
“Contaminated drinking water kills over two million people annually, mainly children under five,” she added. “A sustainable water disinfection system for developing communities is vital to ensuring that we do not allow these horrifying statistics to continue.”
Ms MacMahon said a pilot project using the continuous-flow solar water disinfection system was implemented in the rural village of Ndalani in Kenya in 2008 and worked successfully for more than a year, with “very positive feedback” from locals.
On a visit to the project last July, she found ongoing drought in the region had “crippled the system due to the shrinking water table”. Women in the village must now make a 14km round trip to collect poor-quality drinking water.
“We are currently trying to raise €22,000 through Fundit to drill a borehole to tap the water table,” she said. This would give the 600 people in Ndalani ready access to clean water and allow for the system to be rolled out elsewhere.
“Clean, reliable water is only €22,000 away and the results of this pilot programme will allow us to bring our system to other communities in desperate need of it. Our target works out at less than €37 per villager, or €1,000 per metre for the 22m borehole.”
Ms MacMahon said the TCD research team was seeking to contact potential donors and run fundraisers to meet a February 14th deadline. “We would love to enlist corporate sponsors in both the current project in Kenya and also in future pilots in other locations.”
You can donate to the Solar Water Disinfection project on fundit.ie
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