Bottle Makes Dirty Water Drinkable

[Nomad559]

Bottle Makes Dirty Water Drinkable

The 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.

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.

:thumbsup:

[soothsayer]

1. ccol, i'd like some! On edit, we should send them to every family in Iraq

[rug]

2. I'll take a sip after you.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. There is also a "straw"...

that does essentially the same thing. I saw a report where it was used in Africa -- the folks just had it on a string around their necks and the were able to drink from any water source.

This much needed type of technology is amazing to me.

Just Googles it -- it is the LifeStraw from Denmark:

http://www.lifestraw.com

[Hekate]

4. I bought a hiker-size bottle like that at Magellan's Travel Supples for my disaster kit

www.Magellan's.com
Fortunately I have not yet had to try it out in a disaster, but a friend of mine who goes on adventure travels says it's cleaned up dirty water for her.

It's terrific that someone has made a larger size.

Hekate

[librechik]

5. better link here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/12/nwater112.xml

Thanks!

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. Cool, but at L 190 ....

That's almost $400 per unit.

If you can tolerate the iodine taste, LifeStraw can provide clean water for one person for a year for about $2.

http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/18/lifestraw-purifies-water-instantly-for-under-2-a-year/

[Little Star]

7. Wow! k&r

[Greyskye]

8. send 'em to Iraq to battle the Cholera epidemic...

...that is now spreading through the country. :(

[jmowreader]

9. Yawn.

Katadyn is a Swiss company that has been making water filters that are probably equally as effective as Pritchard's (they're possibly better) for the last fifty years...and they want less money for them.

A Katadyn filter will make potable water out of urine. They are that good.

[kysrsoze]

10. or you can just use 14 drops of bleach per gallon

for a fraction of the cost - and it's already in almost everyone's house.