About 80 percent of cases of disease in developing countries are related to hygiene and in particular the consumption of impure water.
Now it is scientifically validated a simple and inexpensive to make drinking water reasonably, even if it contains a lot of mud. The method can be providential in extreme situations.
Purify the water elemental so clear in very sunny is not as difficult as it sounds. Solar disinfection methods are based on sun exposure for six hours a transparent plastic bottle containing clear water. This simple operation makes it possible; with the right conditions; heat and ultraviolet radiation destroy most pathogens that cause diarrhea as the main symptom, and that on average each day just with the lives of 4,000 children in Africa.
Make drinking water becomes a more difficult challenge to overcome when the precious liquid is cloudy due to the presence of clay, as usually happens when people have to draw water from rivers, streams and even holes dug in the ground. In developing countries, many people have no access to clean water, and it is very difficult to clean the clay particles in suspension, as acknowledged by Joshua Pearce, professor of science and materials engineering at the Technological University of Michigan, USA.
And if water is not clear, it cannot be purified by exposure to sunlight, since the microorganisms are hidden in the mud and evade and ultraviolet radiation.
To purify this kind of water, there is no choice, therefore, first remove the mud. Working with Brittney Dawney at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, Pearce has discovered that one of the most abundant minerals on earth does this job very well. The ore in question is sodium chloride, or common table salt.
Salt is cheap and available almost everywhere. Also, do not take much to allow water to get clear from turbid water. The clear water obtained through the murky salt has a sodium concentration too big for the rules of the United States and other nations over the maximum permitted level for tap water, but lower than some sports drinks, which means that in a situation of need can be consumed although its flavor is somewhat unpleasant.
“I myself have consumed this water. If I was somewhere without clean water and had to charge my children with diarrhea, and this water could save their lives, would use without hesitation,” said Pearce.
Salt makes your job better when the suspended particles are of a type of clay called bentonite. The technique does not work so well with other types of clay. However, adding a little bentonite with salt water containing these different types of clay, it is achieved that the majority of the particles to agglomerate together providing that they can be removed and clear water are available for exposure to the sun in the manner described.
Pearce and Dawney are now conducting further experiments with water containing different types of clay, and are also investigating different soil types all over Africa to see where his method works best.