Yesterday, in the hope that it would inspire and encourage Ghanaian politicians, and the nation's present crop of young entrepreneurs, to replicate it locally, I posted a culled article from the Big Ideas Berkeley website, written by Sybil Lewis, about a successful social enterprise in Kenya, which makes charcoal briquettes from human faeces.
Today, for the same reasons, I am posting a press release from Sweden's Lund University, about the provision of pure water for poor communities in Bangladesh, which is culled from the EurekaAlert website.
It is a market-driven solution - resulting from a collaborative effort between the Water Resources Engineering Department of Lund University of Sweden, the Swedish company Watersprint and Professor Yunnis - to the problem of providing inexpensive pure water to poor communities in the developing world.
If replicated in Ghana, it will suit local conditions here perfectly. Hopefully, the brightest and best of our present crop of young entrepreneurs, and all the political parties in Ghana, will take note of this life-enhancing innovation, which could have a direct bearing on the quality of life of millons of disadvantaged people in the bottom strata of Ghanaian society, and run with it.
And, best of all, one hopes that somehow, someone super-clever in Ghana, could find a way for an inexpensive portable version for use by families and individuals, to be developed for the market here, as a primary source of safe drinking water for ordinary people, to replace the so-called "pure sachet water" sold in sealed plastic bags - which contain water of dubious quality that no civilized nation that cares about the health of its citizens will allow to be produced and sold to the public.
Please read on:
"Public Release:
Solar cells help purify water in remote areas
Credit: Photo: K. M. Persson
"750 million people lack access to clean water across the globe. Providing safe drinking water is one of the biggest challenges and one of the most important goals for humanity", says inventor Kenneth M. Persson, Professor of Water Resources Engineering at Lund University.
The environmental company Watersprint, founded in 2013 by Kenneth M Persson and engineer Ola Hansson, has patented the technology that helps purify water by combining UV-LED technology with intelligent software and Wi-Fi. Its system of 12 volts is so effective that it can be run by a single solar panel. The solar cells also charge its battery, which means that the portable facility can be used around the clock and in rural areas without access to electricity.
Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his organization Yunus Centre have ordered portable units as part of a pilot project. In October, the first unit was installed and by now, another 9 units have been delivered to the project in Bangladesh.
The portable purification units, so-called Micro Production Centres (MPC), are managed by local suppliers and help create jobs for young, unemployed people who run the small facilities and sell clean water in exchange for a small fee. A large part of the population in Bangladesh currently use water contaminated by arsenic.
"Thanks to these portable units, communities can now purchase inexpensive clean water, and at the same time - in accordance with Muhammad Yunus's model - a lot of them can make a small profit by running the plants themselves", says Kenneth M. Persson.
Watersprint recently signed a contract with the United Nations about placing 500 portable units in Bangladesh. The units can be connected to Wi-Fi and they include software that monitors the machine. In case of malfunction, the unit will send out alerts via text message to any mobile phone that is connected to it, as well as through the LED lights on the machine.
"The installations are hopefully only the first step to set up similar structures in several other countries that lack access to clean water", says Kenneth M. Persson.
###
*Professor Muhammad Yunus received the Noble Peace Prize in 2006
for founding the Grameen Bank and for his work on micro-loans. He also
coined the term "social business", which provides access to technologies
and services for solving social or societal problems.Water Facts
According to the report The Rising Pressure of Global Water Shortages 750 million people lack access to clean drinking water, and almost 2 million children under 5 die every year from the lack of clean water and sufficient sanitation.
Contact
Kenneth M Persson,
Professor of Water Resources Engineering Lund University
Email: Kenneth_M.Persson@tvrl.lth.se
Phone: +46 (0)734 128167"
End of Lund University press release culled from the EurekaAlert website.
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