Milwaukee Company's Device Delivers Clean Drinking Water

Stonehouse Water Technologies is developing a small drinking water filtration system to be distributed in developing countries

A sign on the white igloo perched next to the brown, murky water of the Menomonee Canal south of downtown says: "Making the Unthinkable Drinkable."

A small hose carries the canal's heavily polluted water inside the 8-foot-diameter dome.

A button on the outside can be pushed to dispense clear water that is clean enough to drink, said Anne Wick. She invites curious visitors — most recently Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; Cheryl Bailey, dean of the School of Natural and Health Sciences at Mount Mary University; and Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council — to taste the finished and fully tested product.

If there is any hesitation, she smiles and offers reassurance. "I'm a nurse so I wouldn't offer it to you if it wasn't safe," said Wick, communications director for Stonehouse Water Technologies.

Her boss, Hensley Foster, plans to distribute the water treatment domes, and even smaller cupboard-size units, to communities in developing nations from the Caribbean to Africa that do not have access to clean water.

Drinking unsafe water is a global public health crisis, causing widespread diarrhea and 2.5 million deaths a year, according to Foster, president of Stonehouse.

His first unit to go overseas is destined for the Dominican Republic in October.

The Water POD — for Potable On Demand — contains a series of filters that can be modified depending on pollutants in a local water source.

Filters remove sediment, illness-causing bacteria and Cryptosporidium, metals, chemical pollutants and odors. The final step is exposure of the water to ultraviolet light so that viruses are killed, he said.

Each POD produces 3,000 gallons a day, enough drinking water for 1,000 people, Foster said. He estimates the owner of a POD could charge customers about 31/2 cents per liter of water — slightly more than a quart — to pay costs of treatment and to sustain a business.

Though other companies are designing water purification systems for developing countries, he describes the POD as unique for several reasons.

It does not require a big diesel engine to operate large pumps and a trailer-size, or larger, treatment plant. His strategy is to place many small units at local water sources close to communities so residents don't have to travel for safe water.

Gravity alone can push water through the low-flow filters if the source or a storage tank is elevated above a POD, he said.

If not, the unit can operate on just 12 volts of electricity and will work with energy generated from a solar panel.

Source: Journal Sentinel

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Taxonomy

• Public Health
• Drinking Water Security
• Treatment
• Purification
• Technology
• Filters