Part 2:
How SODIS works

Most Beninese who are not on the water grid make do by purifying their water themselves - by boiling it, chlorinating it, or by filtering out the sediment.

The SODIS method is more straightforward. Users take a clear plastic bottle with a maximum size of three litres, fill it with water and put it on the roof or a corrugated iron sheet to soak up the sun's rays. Between six hours and two days later, depending on the strength of the sun, the water should be purified.

According to officials at EAWEG, the sun's UV-A rays kill the pathogenic organisms in the water while its heat has a pasteurising effect. The combined effect can kill up to 99.9 percent of the micro-organisms that cause cholera and diarrhoea.

"A significant number of coliform bacteria disappeared after the SODIS method was applied in laboratory tests," said CREPA's Adissoda. According to SODIS's impact studies, diarrhoeal infection rates drop by between 20 and 70 percent when the method is applied.

The method is cheap - bottles cost about six US cents each and can be reused if well kept, and it is safe - so far studies have not shown any risks of the plastic diluting into the water, according to Adissoda.

And the taste is chemical-free. "This water tastes really good," said Gnona Marthe, a resident of Sèkandji village on the outskirts of Cotonou, where villagers are trialling the SODIS method.

Jean Yadouléton, director of CREPA, confirmed this, telling IRIN, "When they compared the water treated by SODIS with what they were accustomed to consuming, they noted a considerable difference in taste."

Water board slow to adopt

Despite its benefits, SODIS officials at the Benin Water Board (SONEB) say they have not yet agreed to promote SODIS as an official strategy and will not openly state whether or not this will change.

"SODIS is advised only in cases where there is no drinking water. Where there is a good supply of drinking water, there is no problem," said one source close to the Beninese Ministry of Water who requested anonymity.

SODIS will not work without the right conditions in place. "Carefully washed bottles and clean hands are vital requirements," said Adissoda. This involves high hygiene awareness levels, and public information campaigns can cost up to US$2 per person, she added.

The water itself cannot be too dirty in the first place - if it is too cloudy it might resist the sun's rays. Finally, though cheap, plastic bottles are not always plentiful in rural areas. However, the most vital ingredient - sunshine - is abundant in countries such as Benin.

Cotonou — The government of Benin aims to dramatically increase the percentage of Beninese who can access drinking water by 2015 and one organisation, the Regional Centre for Water and Sanitation (CREPA) hopes to close the gap with a simple solution requiring little more than sunshine and a plastic bottle.

Developed by the Swiss Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWEG), the method, called solar water disinfection, or SODIS, uses the sun's UV-A rays and heat to decontaminate water. So far, up to two million people in 20 countries have used it, though Benin is one of the few West African countries to trial the method.

With abundant sunshine CREPA officials say the SODIS method could significantly improve the region's drinking water problems.

"From what we know about the benefits it brings to many people now, we believe SODIS will help inform the water strategies of the national authorities in many African countries as part of a framework to fight poverty," said Yadjide Gbedo Adissoda, technical adviser and engineer at CREPA.

Just 41 percent of rural Beninese currently have access to clean water but the government hopes to bring this up to 67 percent by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals.

Diarrhoea causes up to 17 percent of infant deaths in the country, according to non-governmental organisation Countdown to 2015, and worldwide it kills 2.5 million people each year.

Waste from doing laundry is huge. The average clothes washer emits 160 pounds of carbon a year; the average dryer, 2,224 pounds. The average American does 400 loads of laundry per year, which amounts to 13,500 gallons of water, or enough for one person’s lifetime supply of drinking water. In this era of peak oil and peak water, what can you do to green your dirty laundry?
When you load up, make sure to run entire loads to get the most out of your water, and use the cold setting whenever possible. The ACEEE states that the hot water setting is responsible for 90% of the energy used to run the washer, and costs 5 to 10 times more. Running just half your loads in cold water will cut out 72 pounds of carbon annually.
Washers last for about 11 years, so if you bought yours in 1997 or earlier, it’s probably time for a replacement. Opt for an Energy Star model. Over 11 years, one of these energy- and water-saving models will save you $500 and enough water for 6 people’s lifetimes.

Make your own humanure system
The term “humanure” has been popularized by Joseph Jenkins in The Humanure Handbook, a down and dirty guidebook to recycling human waste for use as a soil amendment. How does one create their own humanure system for purposes of recycling human poo?


Well, instead of using a toilet, you might choose to use the bucket system, which is essentially a five gallon bucket. (See above photo for an example.) After doing one’s business, sawdust or straw is sprinkled on the bucket’s contents to prevent odor, add carbon, and absorb liquids. (Believe me: it really does keep down odor.) Humanure can then be dumped into compost bins, where it decomposes and cures after one to two years. After this time, you are left with nothing but purely organic matter, something quite like dirt. As long as the humanare is given enough time to decompose, there should be no fear about the spread of pathogens, and this material can be used as a soil amendment in gardening or agriculture. It’s that simple! It’s nature at its finest.

After using the humanure system at my home, Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage for well over a year, it feels very strange to me to use a restroom or bathroom where I must flush away my waste. It just feels so… wrong. Really!

For the full details on humanure and making your own humanure system, I highly recommend The Humanure Handbook, which is actually available for free online (in multiple languages, no less!) Human waste is someting to be embraced (well, ok, not literally), and recycled, not flushed away to continue polluting sensitive water tables.

NASA Advances Water Recycling for Space Travel and Earth Use Would Columbus have reached the New World if his ships could not carry enough water for their crews? Would Lewis and Clark have made it to the Pacific if they had no fresh water along the way?

The answer is probably no, because water is just as precious to explorers as it is to everyone on Earth. Water is one of the most crucial provisions astronauts need to live and work in space, whether orbiting Earth, working at a lunar base or traveling to Mars. That's why NASA is following several different but complementary avenues at four agency centers to develop dependable ways of recycling water.

"Developing innovative life support technologies will reduce risks associated with human space exploration," said Eugene Trinh, director of the Human System Research and Technology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "We are working to improve technology used onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and have several research projects under way for future missions to the moon and Mars."

ISS crewmembers must save as much water as possible. Each is allocated about two liters daily. They stretch the ration by collecting, cleaning and reusing wastewater, condensate in the air and urine. A new technology to improve recycling on the ISS is being developed by engineers at Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Inc., Windsor Locks, Conn., and researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, Ala. The Water Processor Assembly (WPA) will be the first major hardware delivery of the Regenerative Environmental Control Life Support System. The WPA and the Urine Processor Assembly make up the Water Recovery System (WRS), which feeds the Oxygen Generation System. These combined systems will support up to a seven-member crew.

"The Water Processing Assembly can daily produce 35 gallons of potable recycled water," said Bob Bagdigian, MSFC Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System Project Manager. After the new systems are installed, annual delivered water to the ISS should decrease by approximately 15,960 pounds, about 1,600 gallons. The WPA is scheduled for delivery in 2008.
Water purity is also important. Chemical and microbial contaminants make it unappetizing or unhealthy, and it can clog complicated fluid systems. The Aerobic Rotational Membrane System (ARMS) research project at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., may help. "We're trying to move toward a biological treatment method using bacteria to help cleanse the water," said Tony Rector, Dynamac Corporation bioprocess engineer at KSC. The KSC prototype shop fabricated a model of the system. It is being tested inside KSC's Space Life Sciences Laboratory, and Rector and colleagues designed it.

At NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Calif., a water recycler enabling reuse for three years without resupply is being developed on a timeline to fit into exploration plans, according to ARC scientist Michael Flynn. A preliminary engineering development unit can hourly recycle 13.2 pounds, about one gallon, of waste into drinkable water.

"If we were going to Mars tomorrow, this is the water treatment system astronauts might well use," Flynn said. He is developing it in cooperation with Water Reuse Technology, Inc., Garden Valley, Calif. "This unit can enable a six-person crew to shower, wash clothes and dishes, drink water and flush toilets over three years without resupply," Flynn said.Engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, are developing technology to help astronauts live in space. They are studying biological water processors to minimize their size in space habitats. JSC microbiologist Leticia Vega describes her work as making biological water processors modular, so they can be easily removed and cleaned. Researchers are also identifying soaps that rapidly degrade at high concentrations. Cleansers, like shampoo and soap, affect the size of systems, because of the time it takes for them to break down. Researchers are studying ways of optimizing size of ion exchange beds used for the final purification of water.

Water recycling technologies developed by NASA will undergo combined water recovery systems testing at JSC to meet exploration timelines. Many of these recycling technologies may have Earth-based uses. NASA is working with the Expeditionary Unit Water Purification Program of the U.S. Office of Naval Research and Bureau of Reclamation to explore ways to use recycling in remote locations. For information about the Environmental Control and Life Support System, visit:

http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/background/facts/eclss.pdf

Good call futuresjackal, sure wouldn't want to get their hopes up for anything too soon. I don't think the selling is quite done yet. So how much notice do you need to set up the demonstration?

You can bet I'll be here next week and the week after too! I'm very much looking forward to it, thanks!

I do like being here and I Don't feel like I'm wasting my time. I don't feel my questions are silly and I also don't feel my DD is bogus. Wow the sunshine is bright here!

Well .002 would be a better sell than .0001 which imo is coming very soon. This one is dead, they are going to squeeze every last penny out of this one. Then it's wash and spin all over again imo!

I guess those darn santa clause rally's are just fantasy then right? The trend is down and imo will continue down tomorrow and next week. Someone is selling shares, no doubt about it.

It will break a buck in one trading session again and then it's no stopping it.

Did you see that last little pop?

Why does everyone keep saying next week? What is next week?

Well if you want to compare PURO to a french prize fighter that's your deal, good luck!

Yup, the shuffle continues.

This is the PURO board.

I wouldn't wait much longer.

This thing is on the verge of hitting the eleven mark right now, might not have to wait until Friday. Face it, someone is selling this down.

I don't buy stocks when the obvious trend is down. You might be the luckiest guy in town and can call a bottom every time but I can't. Good luck with that!

No, I don't.

I'm sorry steveo but I disagree, can't we disagree?

And then next week it will be next week and so on and so on. It's always "next week". Good luck!

Sure trends can change. I don't base my trading on possible future trend changes, do you?

Come on there steveo, who's doing the dreaming here? There comes a time with all penny stocks when the buzz runs out, this one is coming close.

The trust is gone, they blew it. Never again will the hundreds of investors in the past that have been associated with this scam ever have trust here or any future deals made by such.

The trend is still down. IMO .115 tomorrow, Friday at the latest.

If I was going to buy more it would be right now, I wouldn't wait. I'm tapped for now.

I picked up a few more today.

Hi Monk, still waiting for a better price? When you least expect it this thing turns on a dime and moves! Hope you get filled!

There ya go taking everything literally again! lol

As always doog, you're always right!

Once again nicely put! Nice to see facts posted for a change instead of just sunshine!

Phrantic please don't take everything so literally, it was supposed to be a funny. We all know the back pack hiker prototype is still in the R&D stage and the patents aren't even completed so how could W. Africa even think about it yet? lol
Come on peeps!

Wonderful, so does this and it's only 74.95! lol
http://www.backcountry.com/store/EXT0046/Katadyn-Hiker-Pro-Water-Microfilter.html?CMP_ID=SH_FRO001&CMP_SKU=EXT0046&mv_pc=r126

Well there it is folks, an invitation from the company. I wonder why I had to hear it here? Oh well it doesn't matter. I guess if we are doing this through you it's ok too.
I plan on being out west in March. Myself and a couple of others would love to see the demonstration. I would like to video this demonstration if that's ok? I guess if we can't use a septic tank, a live flowing sewage manhole would work. I'll confirm with the company on the date. We will need to contact the city of Blaine (if that's where the machine is) before this can be done to make arrangements for the manhole.
Once again, only the clarifier, no membrane filters and no chemicals. Pumping raw, not processed sewage into the machine, drink a glass of the water as it's being discharged. Sorry but I won't be drinking anything from the machine but thanks for asking.

I get the same results every time I flush! But would you drink it?

No I'm not back, just responding is all. Do you think it's a lot to ask for an investors demonstration? Wouldn't a demonstration like that boost confidence here like crazy, the stock would absolutely soar! If it works.

This machine is almost too good to be true!

Very well said Manti! I never expected a response actually in any time frame and I doubt I will get one. I asked for a simple investors demonstration which will put an end to all speculation once and for all. I don't want to see choreographed video, or second or third party test results. I would really like to see this wonder machine with it's hose sunk to the bottom of an active live bubbling septic tank pumping clean fresh Drinking Water out of the other side without it using any chemicals or filters. I would like to see the person making the claims to drink the clean fresh water as it's pouring out the discharge side of this machine. I don't think that's a lot to ask for considering they're planning on selling these things all over the world.

I don't feel missed. lol, just responding to the posts that are showing up on the MB, I am not reading the board, I will not read the board, I'm tired of reading the board, the board I am not reading, not I am the reading board! LOL