Got Water?

[thistlebloom]

I read a fascinating account on a weather site this morning about a womans research (Dr. Theresa Dankovich) to develop a paper filter that could be used in developing countries to give people clean drinking water.
What they have come up with is called The Drinkable Book. It's a book and the pages tear out to form a water filter capable of making dirty water 99.999% clean. It has been field tested and proven on even the filthiest water. It is not yet ready for distribution, because they need to raise more funding.

I wanted to bring it here to share with all of you because I think it's truly groundbreaking and when they are finally in production could mean all the difference to so many hundreds of thousands of people who aren't as blessed as we are to be able to turn our kitchen tap and drink clean water.

You can read about it in several places online. Here's one to get you started. Link

 

[NwMtGardener]

We recently had foreign guests rent our little spot, and while chatting with them they asked if it was okay to drink the tap water. The first thing I thought was "what a strange question!" Then I paused and realized it was a perfectly plausible question for them. It totally reminded me how lucky we are. And what a cool invention - The Drinkable Book!

 

[digitS']

"Groundbreaking" may be the right word.

There is absolutely nowhere we can dump something on the ground without it ending up, in our water.

There may be many feet of soil above our aquifer but that dumped stuff is going down there. Or, it evaporates and gets picked up in a raincloud. Or, it is picked up in surface water and runs off, in our watershed.

We need to respect our soil.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

What a fantastic idea. Now let's just hope the product doesn't get embroiled in political issues, so it can go where it is needed ASAP.

 

[so lucky]

Wonder if the Gates Foundation is going to help with this.

 

[thistlebloom]

Apparently a lot of their funding has come from private individuals giving small amounts.

 

[journey11]

What a cool concept! I have a Lifestraw on hand. Not too long ago, last winter actually, there was a major water supply contamination that happened near our state capital, a very urban area with hundreds of thousands of people affected. You might have read about it in the news. About a month after the cleanup, they had to shut the water down again because tests came back saying it was still not safe to drink. People were back standing in long lines to receive bottled water because they did not learn their lesson the first time around. So even over here, it is wise to be prepared. They were out of water for weeks!

I've heard the Lifestraw is also being distributed in some of those third world countries too. It filters to 99.9% too, so you can even drink out of a mud puddle or creek, filtering up to 1000L. In an emergency, I could drink from my cistern. I need to buy a second one for DH to take when he's hunting or out cutting wood, etc.

 

[thistlebloom]

Another great thing about the Drinkable Book is it's education value, with the directions and reasons why it's so important to drink clean water printed on each filter with edible ink.

@journey11 , I thought the same thing about it's value to be in every homes emergency kit. It does sound as though they want to focus their distribution in countries with poor water supply's first.

Did you notice the section on the different configurations of the filter that one guy is working on? I thought that was great. I love it when people use their intelligence and creativity to help people that otherwise have no hope.

 

[Nyboy]

@journey11 what is a lifestraw?

 

[journey11]

@journey11 what is a lifestraw?

It's a lightweight, portable water filter. You can read more here. Similar to this, there is the Berkey water bottle, in the same price range.

But neither of these are as cost-efficient as the Drinkable Book that Thistle showed us. For outdoor activities, I think the other two would be more portable to put in your backpack and easier to use on the go.

I think that is cool that they wrote scientific explanations on the pages of the Drinkable Book to help those people understand what is contaminating their water. Hopefully they will learn to try to keep their water sources cleaner.