World Water Week 2009
GFI at the World Water Week in Stockholm
In many countries, drinking water and water being available for sanitation purposes are recognized as human rights. The question is, how can this product aid in making the water accessible and affordable for everyone?
This theme was part of workshops held at the World Water Week Conference in Stockholm on August 2009. The independent UN Expert on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, explained in her presentation, that compliance with this human right is especially necessary in developing countries.
Some of the staff members from the German based company GFI attended the World Water Week Congress and a lot of interest was shown in the SUNWATER-FACTORY concept. The SUNWATER-FACTORY is a simple and effective device for the purification of drinking water utilizing the principle of evaporation through solar energy. The modular structure of SUNWATER-FACTORY ensures the accomondation of any need, large or small. A single unit can provide approximately two to three litres of drinking water a day for one person or produce a daily supply of clean, hygienically pure water for entire communities by connecting several units to a system.
A single SUNWATER-FACTORY unit occupies less than one square meter of space and consists of two components: the transparent pyramid and the combined evaporation and drinking-water collection basins.
Solar radiation causes the raw water to evaporate and condense, and the resulting droplets of water run down the inside of the pyramid and into the collection basin.
When a number of units are connected, the basins are linked by simple piping. This makes it possible to feed raw water into the evaporation basin, and then to transport the condensed drinking water collected in the basin of one unit into an adjacent unit. The purified drinking water can easily be drawn from the last unit through a discharge pipe.
SUNWATER-FACTORY functions without complicated technology and it is virtually maintenance free. The system operates exclusively by means of solar energy. The UV resistant materials and the solid technical design afford the consumer many years of use.
A conference participant from India stated, that families in urban territories in the northern regions have to collect drinking water under harsh conditions, often having to walk great distances. If there is drinking water, it is often contaminated with natural flourid. In some areas, especially the african regions have a high concentration of natural flourid in the ground. This flourid can easily be filtered by the SUNWATER-FACTORY.
Flooded areas can also benefit from the SUNWATER-FACTORY system. In such emergency situations, the water supply systems are often contaminated with oil from the local oil storage tanks and gas stations. In conclusion, many drinking water supplies are contaminated. This can cause severe illnesses and even death to those who consume the water.
In such areas, SUNWATER-FACTORY can help to produce drinkable water in ease without technical effort.