Watercone

[Dover]

The Watercone® is a solar powered water desalinator that takes salt or brackish water and generates freshwater. It is simple to use, lightweight and mobile. The technology is simple in design and use and is described by simple pictograms. With max. 1,6 liters a day the Watercone® is an ideal device to cover a childs daily need of freshwater. UNICEF: "every day 5000 children die as a result of diarrhea caused by drinking unsafe water"

How it works: http://www.watercone.com/pictures.html

[gateley]

1. That statistic - 5000 children dying daily - is shocking. Are these being

supplied to countries that need them?

And what about those straws? Were those distributed, do you know?

Thanks.

[Dover]

2. Explore the website a bit

I think it will answer your questions, though I'm not sure which 'straws' you are referring to.

http://www.watercone.com/index.html

This is from the site:

The Watercone® project is looking for investors and companies to initiate mass production tooling and distribution. So the Watercone can be manufactured for a lower price and become affordable to the people in need.
Please contact: [e-mail]
Single products are not available at the moment!


News and Publication:

Architecture for Humanity, Design Like You Give a Damn is a compendium of innovative projects from around the world that demonstrate the power of design to improve lives. The Watercone® is discribed on page 285.See article.

The Watercone® is travelling arround the world for testing.


Women in Europe for a Common Future

At lake Aral the problem of low waterlevel causes a salinisation of the land and ground water. The Watercone has been tested successfully in 2005 and will be tested again.


CARE Germany held pilot project in Yemen testing the Watercone®

From Jan. 25 on until end of March 2004 CARE Germany tested 100 Watercones in Yemen in a little fisherman`s village east of Aden.

To see more pictures and read the extract of the 26 page CARE report with its final conclusion click here.This pilot project could only be realized with the financial support of the Hans-Sauer-Stiftung in Munich.
Thank you!

WorldChanging, with foreward by Al Gore has been published on November 1st 2006
On page 193 and 194 the Watercone is featured: (Pages as PDF)
" The best- yet solar water purifieris the Watercone, a solar still that uses the sun`` heat to evaporate water, which then condenses on the inside of the cone - flip the funnel-like cone over and you can pour the water right into a container. This cheap, rugged system can purify about 1,6quarts (1.5 liters) of water per day, not only killing all waterborne pathogens but also removing particulates, many chemicals, and heavy metals. Better yet, it can also desalinate seawater- an important function for the world`s sizable coastal populations. JJF"


Massive Change: The Future of Global Design in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago
September 16, 2006—December 31, 2006.


October 16, 2005-January 2, 2006 MoMA

SAFE: Design Takes On Risk features a carefully selected array of more than 300 contemporary design objects and prototypes from all over the world designed for a variety of reasons.

The Watercone® has now been selected to be part of the permanent collection of the MoMA NY.


From June 29th 2005 - October 17th 2005 the Centre Pompidu in Paris presented the Watercone® in the exhibition D-DAY, modern-day design.


View catalogue pages here as PDF file.
The Watercone® has now been selected to be part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidu in Paris.


©Augustin.net 2007 International Patents and Patent pending, "Watercone" and the Watercone Logo are registered trademarks

[gateley]

3. Thanks for the link - I'll check it out. Here's info on the straw:

New straw to kill disease as you drink

A new straw that purifies water as it is drunk is hoped to be part of a solution to water-borne disease killing thousands in developing countries.
Water from most sources can be drunk if done so through the LifeStraw say the makers of the product.

Created by Danish innovator Torben Vestergaard Frandsen the straw is made of plastic and resembles a flute. Inside are filters and a chamber impregnated with iodine. These remove the bacteria from the water as it is drunk.

"You basically just suck the water through it," said Alan Mortensen, business director of the Public Health Water-Bourne Disease Control - which produces the LifeStraw - told BBC World Service's Culture Shock programme.

"You just need to suck a few times to get the water through all the filters."

more...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4967452.stm

[TheMadMonk]

6. Relatively high tech. Not a goer. nt

[Maq]

4. very interesting commercially

I think this has been part of the survival methodology of the Special Forces or Seals. I seem to remember this system mentioned way back during the Viet Nam era.

[XemaSab]

5. *Voyage of the Mimi* ping!

:bounce:

[TheMadMonk]

7. Looks more like it would best suit a survival kit.

If made collapsible.

What is wrong with this idea (viewed in cross section) which uses exactly the same principles, but is fully scalable and suited to community usage.




The upper portion and the two side channels are clear or translucent and the center channel should be black. The whole is set up on a slight slope. Undrinkable water flowing in the center channel is evaporated and collected in the side channels.

The way the system was described to me, it used sections of plastic piping, but there is no reason why it couldn't be done with polyethylene film. Thus:


Black polyethylene sheets (builder's plastic) laid in trenches dug in the ground and clear or translucent (as used in greenhouses) on a frame over the top.

It may not be as elegant as a watercone, but elegance is a luxury for people like you and me, who have money to piss up against the wall.

[Maq]

8. A small box of plastic bags from

the Dollar Store could take care of a complete Village. Cheaper than the Watercone.

Why give the villager a FISH....teach him How To Fish.

Send them a roll of plastic or a box of plastic bags and Teach them HOW TO USE IT.



I like TheMadMonk idea better. Further, with his system even in the desert it could be used. Place a piece of vegetation such as a cacti or leaves under the Poly and it would extract water from it. Drinkable water.....SURVIVE.


A small scale businessman in a village could start a Salt business with the Poly tarp idea above. Salt is still a valuable commodity in some isolated places far from civilization. Poly trenches over salt water ----drink the water and save the salt for later Sale.