Purifying the waters of Bangladesh from arsenic: this is the goal of a new project carried out by some scholars from the English University of Aberdeen together with the Canadian company PurifAid and based on DRAM technology
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himPurify from arsenic the waters of Bangladesh: is the goal of a new project carried out by some scholars from the English University of Aberdeen together with the Canadian company PurifAid.
The solution is based on the idea of the so-called DRAM, a name that voluntarily refers to whiskey production process (whose abbreviation indicates a compound for the remediation and mitigation of polluting parts), and whose origin is due to a Scottish researcher who discovered how by mixing a by-product of the whiskey production process (local products, such as rice husks e coconut shells, for example, they are used as natural filters for arsenic), with an ingredient not yet disclosed it is possible to clean the water from pollutants. The technique is now in use in the UK to clean water near industrial plants.
To pump the contaminated groundwater and send it to the purification zone, the team led by Dr. Cassidy designed a stainless steel tool. Once it flows through this device, where the DRAM is introduced, the water can be collected and distributed for safe consumption and supplied to all rural areas. A nice and good new technology, which will remove arsenic and other pollutants requiring, among other things, little maintenance.
Thanks to its efficiency, low cost and sustainability, DRAM technology is less expensive to manufacture than existing solutions and works by simply using gravity, with no electricity or fuel required. Unlike other water purification methods, DRAM units also need simple cleaning every 4-5 months.
In Bangladesh, arsenic in drinking water is present in higher concentrations than anywhere else in the world. According to theWorld Health Organization, arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is the largest mass poisoning in human history. Approximately 77 million people are at risk of arsenic poisoning, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on tackling the problem. One in five deaths in Bangladesh are due to arsenic poisoning.
In April, the team will go to Bangladesh to test the system. Part of the team will work on the technology itself, trying to improve the rate 95% filtration. Another part will focus on the business model and education. PurifAid, founded by Shahreen Reza, is partnering with Brac, a Bangladeshi NGO, to develop Dram technology. 100 thousand dollars is the initial investment of the project.
And for the future, PurifAid hopes to expand this technique to China, Vietnam and areas of Africa that are also plagued by arsenic contamination.
Germana Carillo
Photo: http://www.fastcoexist.com
