World Health Organization says, over 2.5 billion people across the world lack access to clean drinking water and it is believed that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in the water-stressed situation.
If we do the math, every person will need at least 20-50 litres of water a day to drink, cook, bathe etc. But, the real question is, do we have sufficient water for all of us?
Water is essential for human life. With the population on the rise, waterbodies are depleting due to encroachments and rapid urbanization which is making it difficult for us to store/save water.
United Nations considers access to water is a fundamental right and part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 6 is access to water for all.
The reasons behind the lack/running out of the water are plenty. 30 per cent of the earth’s fresh water lies in deep aquifers, and it is being extracted at dangerously unsustainable amounts.
To counter the situation and to progress in SDG6 new technologies have come to bring water back to the communities in a much better way.
Fog Catchers
The idea of collecting water from fog has come into picture after the region in Morocco faced severe water shortage including groundwater.
The fog collectors installed on the slopes of Mount Boutmezguida is now the largest fog harvesting project in the world. It is said that around 6,300 litres of water is harvested on a daily basis.
The process is fog catching not complicated, the mist is caught as it passes through a weave of large vertical nets and trickles into a collection system where it is filtered and mixed with groundwater. The water is piped into five villages to provide clean and safe water for 400 people. This technology is not new, but recent advancements have made it much more efficient. There are also fog catching systems in Chile, Peru, South Africa, Ghana, Eritrea, and California.
The Life Straw
The LifeStraw was created by Vestergaard, a global company innovating for a healthier and more sustainable world. The idea of LifeStraw is to filter the dirty water into safe water which is safe to drink. It is recorded that, the straw purifies around 1000 litres of water thereby removing 99.9 per cent of bacteria through a unique filtration system.
The Drinkable Book
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University came up with an education and water filtration tool in the form of a drinkable book. The idea is to distribute drinkable books to people across the world where access to clean water is a major challenge. Every page in the drinkable book contains basic water and sanitation advice that is printed on scientific coffee filter paper that can be used to purify water and reduce 99.9 per cent bacteria. Each book – distributed in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Haiti – can provide clean water for four years for a single person.
Solar Powered Water Filtration
Solar powered water filtration is a new age technique that is helping to purify water at a faster pace. The world is facing a problem with water being contaminated as most of the developing countries discharge sewage into waterways without treating the water. Hence, the revolution has begun with Innovative water technologies which are developing water filtration systems like SunSpring Hybrid self-contained portable solar and wind-powered system that can provide 20,000 litres of clean water a day.
Water from Air – Zero Mass Water
Zero Mass Water is a startup that uses solar power to generate clean drinking water at around roughly 10 litres per day. The technology, called the Source Hydropanel runs on a pretty simple premise. Solar energy heats a sponge-like material to create condensation that is collected in a 30-litre reservoir. Once the water is collected, it is filtered, and minerals are added to improve the taste of the water. Zero Mass is now looking to partner with NGOs worldwide to provide clean and safe drinking water for all.
These are some of the 5 water technologies that are working to provide access to clean drinking water for all.
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