Mini Water-Treatment for Developing Countries

2008-Jun-22 | Thanks to a portable water-purification system from Siemens, clean drinking water can now be supplied in even the most remote regions. As reported in the research magazine Pictures of the Future, the SkyHydrant system removes pathogens from water by pumping it through a membrane of ultra-fine fibers. The result is exceptionally pure drinking water that even surpasses World Health Organization (WHO) quality specifications.

Around one-fifth of the world’s population has no access to clean drinking water. According to WHO figures, 1.2 billion people are endangered by disease as a result of drinking contaminated water, leading to the deaths of approximately two million every year. In response to this crisis, the United Nations (UN) is aiming to reduce the number of people without access to clean water to one half of today’s level by the year 2015.

To help the UN achieve this goal, a team from Siemens Water Technologies has developed the portable water-purification system SkyHydrant and established the SkyJuice Foundation to ensure the system will be used effectively in developing countries and disaster areas. SkyHydrant purifies unclean water by means of a membrane made up of about 20,000 ultra-fine fibers, which remove all particulates with a diameter of over 0.1 micrometer. The system requires neither electric power nor purification chemicals, and with annual costs of less than 20 euro cents per person, it is affordable for even the poorest communities in developing countries.

To date, the SkyJuice Foundation has installed around 350 systems in 16 countries, including Bangladesh, where large areas were devastated by Cyclone Sidr in 2007. The 20 SkyHydrants in the country are now producing as much as 200,000 liters of drinking water daily. According to UN representatives in Bangladesh, the number of people becoming ill from drinking contaminated water has fallen to almost zero in the areas where SkyHydrants have been installed.