The Solaqua Lets the Light Shine In
June 03, 2009
You know how much I love solar for water purification--tech the World Health Organization even recommends. Now University of New South Wales student Jason Lam's new device is making it easier to get the job done.
Lam's Solaqua uses solar water disinfection--or SODIS for short--to clean up to 2.6 gallons of water, reports Gizmag. Unclean water is poured into the middle, passes through an initial filtering cloth, and then fills five detachable bottles that have reflective interiors. Each bottle comes off so it can lie in the sun. The whole setup can either be carried by its handles or placed comfortably on the head to be transported.
Lam's design was the silver Australian Design Award James Dyson Award winner this week, named for the British vacuum cleaner billionaire. There are still some drawbacks, though. Treehugger's Jaymi Heimbuch points out that its plastic, while recyclable, might not be rugged enough. At the rate designers are going, I imagine that future prototypes will resolve this. After all, the sky is the limit here.
Photo: The Solaqua uses the sun to kill disease in water. Credit: Jason Lam/Australian Design Award.
Comments
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Hi there,
We’ve noticed this product concept from the 2009 Australian Design Award-James Dyson Award has caught your interest and we wanted to say thank you for the write up.
Just to give you a quick update, this project is now one of thirteen Australian product concepts that have made it through into the global James Dyson Award- a competition that spans 21 countries to identify the best young inventors from around the world. From now through till the 20th July 2009, your readers can vote for this project or another entry in the James Dyson Award on www.jamesdysonaward.org. FYI- From each country, the project which receives the most votes will get an automatic entry as a shortlist and the chance to win the grand prize of £10,000 for themselves and another £10,000 for their university!
Posted by: Shanon | June 30, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Thanks Shanon! I'll definitely be voting :-)
Posted by: Alyssa | July 02, 2009 at 12:34 AM