BOTTLE MAKES DIRTY WATER DRINKABLE
By Christopher Hope
The Telegraph
September 13, 2007
Original LinkThe way fresh water is supplied to disaster-hit regions could be revolutionised after an Ipswich-based businessman invented a £190 bottle that makes foul-smelling water drinkable in seconds:
http://www.lifesaversystems.com/Michael Pritchard hopes that the bottle could be a life-saver for refugees in disaster regions where access to clean drinking water is vital.
However, the military are already latching on to his idea. Four hours after Mr Pritchard launched his new "Life Saver" bottle at the DESI defence show in London yesterday, he sold out his entire 1,000 stock. "I am bowled over," he said.
Military chiefs are excited because the bottles, which can distill either 4,000 litres or 6,000 litres without changing the filter, will have huge benefits for soldiers who hate drinking iodine-flavoured water.
In July a protype of the bottle was voted "Best Technological Development" at the Soldier Technology conference <http://www.soldiertechnology.com>.
Mr Pritchard, who runs a water treatment business in Ipswich, was inspired after watching coverage of the tsunami in south-east Asia on Boxing Day 2004 and of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana the following year.
He was amazed to see refugees waiting for days to get any fresh water.
He said: "Something had to be done. It took me a little while and some very frustrating prototypes but eventually I did it."
Conventional filters can cut out bacteria measuring more than 200 nanometres but not viruses, which typically are 25 nanometres long.
Mr Pritchard's bottle can clean up any water - including faecal matter -- using a filter that cuts out anything longer than 15 nanometres, which means that viruses can be filtered out without the use of chemicals.
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LIFESAVER: ALL-IN-ONE WATER FILTRATION BOTTLE REMOVES PATHOGENS WITHOUT THE USE OF CHEMICALS
gizmag.com
September 19, 2007
http://www.gizmag.com/go/8026/
Estimates put the number of people without access to safe drinking water at a staggering one billion, and with thousands -- most of them children -- dying daily from the risks associated with waterborne disease there is no doubting the significance of this new all-in one ultra filtration water bottle. The LIFESAVER bottle <http://www.lifesaversystems.com/> is a World first breakthrough for access to clean drinking water that removes waterborne pathogens without the use of expensive overheads or chemicals. The device has huge potential to save lives in humanitarian and disaster relief operations as well in military situations where its pressurized system also allows it to be used as a sterile wound wash.
Safe drinking water interventions have vast potential to transform the lives of millions. Many can remove microbiological waterborne pathogens such as bacteria, but are costly and require electricity and spare parts that are just not available in most poverty stricken areas around the world.
The Lifesaver bottle produces sterile drinking water through the use of an advanced ultra-filtration membrane that incorporates a high specification carbon fitted to the bottle. The filter removes bacteria, viruses, cysts, parasites, fungi and all other microbiological waterborne pathogens from water. The carbon block removes any chemical residues including pesticides and heavy metals. It works by filling the bottle with any kind of water, and simply pumping the dirty water through the filter to produce clean drinking water in seconds. This advanced filtration system, which was originally developed for industry use, employs a replaceable cartridge that has a lifetime filtering capacity of 4000-6000 litres. As the cartridge approaches the end of its life, the amount of pumps taken to filter the water is increased. Once an easy flow of clean water cannot be produced with a continuous number of pumps, the cartridge is simply replaced.
The bottle does not use chemical sanitizers such as chlorine or iodine that make the water foul tasting. Instead it filters waterborne pathogens quickly and easily through the bottle, and eliminates bad tastes and odors. The non-tasting teat can also be replaced as it begins to wear.
The Lifesaver is designed to operate at any angle, or on any axis. This means that the bottle can be used to fill a variety of water storage vessels easily. The pneumatic action of the bottle allows water to be pressurized for use in applications where a high pressure spray of water is needed, like the sanitation of a wound. The possible applications for this innovative design are vast and include use by the military, where it will reduce the weight carried by soldiers, as well as in rescue operations, like the one faced by response teams after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. In this example, many people perished in the weeks after the tsunami hit, simply because they had no access to clean drinking water. Instead of providing the water directly -- an expensive and time consuming logistical challenge that also requires the clean up of millions of empty bottles -- rescue efforts could supply the means by which every person was able to collect safe water themselves. With the Lifesaver bottle there is no time wasted filtering water at the point of collection or waiting for chemicals to work, you simply collect the water, apply a few pumps, and drink.
Visit Lifesaver to learn more <http://www.lifesaversystems.com/>. Related reading can be found in Gizmag's coverage of LifeStraw <http://www.gizmag.com/go/4418/> another innovative water filtration product designed for use in the field that requires no electricity and utilizes a patented disinfecting resin to achieve its objective.
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LifesaverA Lifesaver bottle can be purchased by anyone, anywhere in the world, through the Lifesaver website. It can be stored, unopened, for up to three years and used for up to five years, after being opened. It will remove bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and all other microbiological waterborne pathogens without using chemicals like iodine or chlorine which leave a distinctive foul taste. Activated carbon reduces chemical residues, including pesticides, endocrine disrupting compounds, medical residues, and heavy metals such as lead and copper. It also eliminates bad tastes and odors from contaminates such as chlorine and sulphur. It does not remove salt from water or urine. Approximately $500.00 per bottle in U.S. currency.
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LifeStrawThe present version of Lifestraw does not filter out heavy metals or parasites. It also does not make saline water potable; however, it still removes the bacteria and viruses from the salty water. At present, Lifestraw is only available to institutions.
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OTHER PORTABLE WATER PURIFIERSKatadyn Vario Water Filter