Mobile MaxPure solar filters bring pure water to refugees

Recently, we reported on Marines and their deployment of GREENS solar-power for technological devices on the battlefield. Soon after publishing that article, Gizmag was contacted by World Water and Solar Technologies (WWST) and told us about the company’s placement of solar-powered water purification units throughout the world, but in particular, in war-torn Darfur, Sudan. Working with the Humanitarian International Services Group (HISG), the company has installed two high-volume Mobile Max Pure (MMP) water filters that use the sun for their power. Each unit can generate up to 3.5kW of solar electric power and provide 30,000 gallons of clean drinking water for the many thousands of civilians living in displaced persons camps. Each filter was placed in a carefully selected location where it could do the most good.

WWST is a privately-held company, the only one of its kind that delivers potable water powered solely by the sun. It has a number of models and variations that allow units to create solar energy to pump and purify water, run lights, power tools, operate command center equipment and satellite phones. The company’s Vice President of Marketing and Project Management, Melissa Burns, says the company has focused primarily on the environmental nexus – where water and solar power meet.

How it works

The physical requirements of the MMP are basic – a water source (canal or well), open space for sunlight to hit the solar panels, water storage for the treated water, and security. The system uses solar panels to generate electricity to power the pump that draws source water through a series of filters and ultraviolet lights and into a holding tank for distribution. The end result is potable (drinking) water – all done without fossil fuels or chlorine. Each system is designed to last around 25 years and can be deployed in approximately 30 minutes, making it ideal for emergency situations, like Hurricane Katrina.

Read more . . .

Random Posts:

• The Lithium Chase
• Danish Eco City Proves Waste Management Can Reverse Greenhouse Trend
• Quantum computing researchers achieve control over individual electrons
• Sites Ask Users to Spend to Save
• The Answer to China’s Future Energy Demands May Be Blowing in the Wind

Related posts:

1. Solar Decathlon solar house competition heats up
2. Breakthrough in quest for solar hydrogen production
3. Solar cells made through oil-and-water ’self-assembly’
4. Solar panels made three times cheaper and four times more efficient
5. WOW: ‘Major Discovery’ Primed To Unleash Solar Revolution: Scientists Mimic Essence Of Plants’ Energy Storage System

Tags: clean drinking water, drinking water, electricity generation, Humanitarian International Services Group, potable water, Renewable, solar power, solar-powered filter

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 9:56 am and is filed under Innovation, Project Energy, gizmag. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.