{"id":471828,"date":"2010-03-25T15:51:15","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T19:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.circleofblue.org\/waternews\/?p=13721"},"modified":"2010-03-25T15:51:15","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T19:51:15","slug":"freshwater-delivery-in-the-wake-of-natural-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/471828","title":{"rendered":"Freshwater Delivery in the Wake of Natural Disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sample of water technologies invented to store, ship and provide one of the most critical resources for crisis recovery.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Emily Bouckaert
\nCircle of Blue<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Freshwater<\/p>\n
Photo \u00a9 Carmen Barker\/IWT<\/div>\n
Local residents collect clean drinking water from a newly installed SunSpring unit at a Youth Sports Center in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After a natural disaster, safe drinking water is always among the most urgent needs. Without it, health conditions deteriorate. Illnesses spread quickly.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why having equipment in place that makes it easier to provide water is so crucial in disasters. Water transportation and purification technologies, say authorities, should be part of the rapid response solution in emergencies. Early forays into commercial applications for such equipment have been unsuccessful, said Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick. But he sees enormous potential for them in crisis situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were smart enough to pre-position these kinds of resources,\u201d Gleick said, \u201ceither large bags for moving water or small scale technologies that are capable of treating large quantities of water quickly, I think we\u2019d do much better at preventing, or at least reducing, the impacts of natural disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some useful new tools:<\/p>\n

SunSpring\u2122<\/h2>\n

The SunSpring\u2122<\/a> is a solar powered water purifier created by the small Colorado-based company Innovative Water Technologies <\/a>(IWT). Each unit is equipped to produce microbiologically purified water from a variety of poor quality inlet sources including rivers, wells, lakes, ponds, ditches and recycled rain water.<\/p>\n

SunSpring\u2122 uses a General Electric Homespring Central Water Purifier <\/a>that effectively removes bacterial and viral pathogens, as well as particulate matter from contaminated water, to meet the water quality standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. GE Homespring\u2122 units have been used for disaster relief in the aftermath of the tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the earthquake in Sichaun, China in 2008. Andrew Warnes, senior channel manager at Pentair Residential Filtration (a GE-Pentair Joint Venture), said that the units need electricity to operate, sometimes limiting their ability to function in disaster relief efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always a desire on our part to go completely off the grid with this technology,\u201d Warnes said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Jack and Carmen Barker, owners of IWT, found a way to power the purifier off the grid. They reinvented the GE Homespring by combining it with a solar panel and creating a unit that could be filter water entirely independent of an electrical grid. Recently, the Sunspring\u2122 units have been put to work in the field to help satisfy the great need for safe water in Haiti after the January earthquakes. Fourteen units have been donated to relief efforts in Haiti, each with the capacity to provide water to almost 10,000 people. Ten of these units were donated by the GE Foundation<\/a> to the Clinton Global Initiative<\/a>. CGI sent the Sunsprings to UNICEF<\/a>, which finally forwarded them to Esperanza\u2014a sustainable development organization\u2014making a chain of noteworthy Sunspring\u2122 supporters. Additionally, Jack Barker is leading the installation team and training NGO Esparanza on the ground in Haiti to maintain the units for the long term.<\/p>\n

One of the next major concerns in Haiti\u2019s recovery is the threat of widespread waterborne illness, according to Warnes. IWT has created a real-time interactive map<\/a> that pinpoints the sites of the donated units.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intent behind these sites is to create a necklace or a string of safe havens surrounding medical facilities so that those sites don\u2019t have to worry about ongoing water supply,\u201d Warnes said.<\/p>\n

The Sunspring\u2122 can filter 19,000 liters of water per day and last ten years, making it one of the most permanent drinking water solutions for disaster recovery.<\/p>\n

Spragg Bags\u2122<\/h2>\n

Spragg Bags\u2122 are giant cylindrical bags designed to transport freshwater around the world. For the past 22 years, Terry G. Spragg & Associates have been developing and refining the water bag technology.<\/p>\n

\"Spragg<\/p>\n
Photo \u00a9 Terry Spragg<\/div>\n
An air inflation test of two Spragg Bags.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A test voyage in the Pacific Ocean was conducted in 1996, transporting freshwater from Port Angeles, Washington to Seattle. Each bag can hold about 770,000 gallons of freshwater. More than 1.5 million gallons were transported during the test voyage with two 230 ft bags. The Spragg Bags \u2122 are connected by ultra strong zipper technology and \u201ctowed\u201d in trains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key to the whole system is the connection system. The zipper system gives you the ability to modulate,\u201d inventor Terry Spragg told Circle of Blue.<\/p>\n

As suggested in a recent blog entry<\/a> by the Pacific Institute\u2019s Peter Gleick, in emergency situations empty bags could be transported with safe drinking water to nearby sites.<\/p>\n

Spragg is confident in the technical merits of his water bags.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economics are easy to calculate, the technology is easy to demonstrate; it\u2019s the politics of water that have been the most difficult part of my process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Terry Spragg\u2019s next goal is to run another test voyage demonstration, this time between Northern and Southern California. He hopes the test voyage gives investors the data and evidence they need to support Spragg Bags.\u2122<\/p>\n

WaterBox<\/h2>\n
\"WaterBox<\/p>\n
Photo \u00a9 Mark Atherton\/Brunel University<\/div>\n
The interior of a WaterBox purifier, housed in a one-foot by two-fooot plastic bin.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Deveopled by professors and former students from Brunel University, the WaterBox was created for disaster relief. The purifying system can filter approximately 15 liters of water per day, which fulfills daily water needs for about 15 people.<\/p>\n

According to WorkingwithWater.net, the WaterBox system uses two carbon filters, a reverse osmosis filter, and ultraviolet light to purify water. The WaterBox is also equipped with a meter that triggers automatic cycling of water back to the holding tank if it doesn\u2019t meet the necessary standards.<\/p>\n

The system can be powered by electricity from the grid or by solar panels.
\nWhile the WaterBox is designed as a short-term water purifying solution, Dr. Mark Atherton told WorkingwithWater.net that the WaterBox is intended to be recycled.<\/p>\n

\u201cA team based around very able mechanical engineering students had a vision for the WaterBox to be the best affordable western technology made quickly available for a disaster situation, and then retrieved and made ready for the inevitable next time occurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, the creators of the WaterBox are seeking investors for the project.<\/p>\n

Historically, individuals and governments alike have struggled with targeted planning to fund and distribute technologies like the SunSpring\u2122, Spragg Bags\u2122 and WaterBox before disaster strikes. Relief only pours in after major events. The retroactive response is more expensive, and slower. A whole spectrum of organizations, and generous individuals, usually help make ends meet. The pattern held in the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, but it\u2019s not a permanent solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to set up effective, permanent disaster response in all aspects of disaster. Not just water, but also in food and health,\u201d Gleick said. \u201cTo rely on overstressed and overstretched non-governmental agencies just isn\u2019t the most effective way to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carefully positioned water transportation and treatment technologies could be part of that permanent solution.<\/p>\n

Emily Bouckaert is a reporter for Circle of Blue. You can reach her at emily@circleofblue.org<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sample of water technologies invented to store, ship and provide one of the most critical resources for crisis recovery. By Emily Bouckaert Circle of Blue Photo \u00a9 Carmen Barker\/IWT Local residents collect clean drinking water from a newly installed SunSpring unit at a Youth Sports Center in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. After a natural disaster, safe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4005,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-471828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}