Subject: Re: [permaculture] Portable, emergency filtration equipment to create potable water for disaster relief
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 11:34:22 -0600
Also, look at www.potpaz.org (handily located in Nicaragua, plus they
travel to train) and, less recommended for reasons below, www.elfiltron.com
I copied the introduction from a 12page pdf file of an article written
by the UNDP below... One would think it would be found in the
www.elfiltron.com webpage, but I couldn't get through all the ads. Write
me if you'd like me to post it, specifying english or spanish or both.
It includes a nice table which compares different technologies for
purifying water.
I also like the "canadian water filter" types . .. hope to make one next
week, as a matter of fact, to use stored rainwater for drinking.
saludos,
george anna
FILTRÓN is a low cost household filter which treats contaminated water
in order to render it safe to drink.
FILTRÓN basically consists of a filtering element that can be made by
local potters using local materials, with no need for electricity or
advanced technology.
The Millennium Summit goal for 2015 to “halve the proportion of people
without sustainable access to safe drinking water” is impossible to
achieve by conventional methods, because costs would be too high.
FILTRÓN is an innovatory system that can help attain this objective by
ensuring low cost drinking water to poor families. Furthermore, it uses
a technology that can be applied by members of the family and which
generates job opportunities for local artisans.
FILTRÓN is not just a filter. In terms of health, it provides safe
drinking water, removing turbidity and eliminating bacteria, which
cannot pass through its tiny pores. The filter is impregnated with
colloidal silver, which produces a reaction that makes any harmful
agents passing through the filter completely harmless for human beings.
Since FILTRÓN is made of clay, which is the basis of all known cultures,
it is culturally acceptable to communities. Socially, the consumption of
clean drinking water reduces illnesses, protects the household economy
and guarantees a motivated workforce for the production of FILTRÓN, thus
generating local employment. As far as technology is concerned, FILTRÓN
can be made by local craftsmen using local materials; only a brief
period of training is required. Mass production, too, involves a minimal
amount of equipment. In economic terms, it guarantees drinking water for
a Nicaraguan family at a cost of US$10 per filter.
FILTRÓN is based on pre-Columbian American practices, which included
working a clay pot from which they extracted uncontaminated water by
tilting the container on its side; now a faucet is used instead. In
1980, Fernando Mazariego improved this system by introducing an
application of colloidal silver.
In 1998, Potters for Peace, an international NGO that trains potters
from developing countries, made further progress by developing a
large-scale production process, which substantially reduced costs from
US$20 to US$10 per filter. An important part in all this was played by
Ron Rivera, a sociologist and potter, who had a leading role in the
process of improving and disseminating the technology at the
international level.
FILTRÓN has received national and international recognition. Among the
most important at the international level are the World Bank’s
“Marketplace 2004” Prize in Cambodia, awarded for the transfer of
the technology from Nicaragua, and a prize awarded by the Association of
Latin-American Health Engineers in1982.
Potters for Peace decided not to patent the technology, but to publish
information on the INTERNET and make it public domain.
Kelly Finigan wrote:
Answers to Larry's questions below...
Re: [permaculture] Portable, emergency filtration equipment to create potable water for disaster relief,
George Anna Clark, 11/11/2005