Students invent inexpensive water purification system that costs $5

Thursday, March 08, 2007 by: M. T. Whitney
Tags: water purification, health news, Natural News

(ConsumerWellness.org) A new, inexpensive water purification technology developed by engineering students at Gonzaga University of Spokane, Wash., shows promise in offering clean water to African nations that currently go without. The extremely lost cost of the filter may make it affordable even by citizens of lower economic status.

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What you need to know - Conventional View

• The water purification system can give an African family clean water for five years.

• Clean water, a luxury we have, is a rarity in some parts of Africa.

• The new purifier is a ceramic filter with small holes to guide water without allowing contaminants through.

• The cheap system, which costs $5 to make, meets the World Health Organization's standards regarding water quality and safety.

• The system uses burnt coconut shells and other material to stimulate an active-carbon process to clean water. Active-carbon purification is found on store-bought purifiers like the Brita water filter.

• The next step is to find funding for a trip to go to the African country of Benin so Gonzaga students can demonstrate the system.

• Students from Gonzaga have been working on improving water conditions as part of the group Engineers Without Borders since 2003.

Resources you need to know

• Engineers Without Borders (http://www.ewb-usa.org)

• Gonzaga University (http://www.gonzaga.edu)

• World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/en)

Bottom line

Ingenuity of engineering students allows carbon-activated water filtration to help the Third World have clean water at low cost.