If you’re on the go this summer, you’re likely thinking about how you can have a steady supply of pure drinking water. Whether you’re out in the wilderness on an adventure hike, camping with your family at a local campground, or on a long RVing road trip across the country, filtered water can be hard to come by.
Packing along a water filter is an option, but if you’ve got a shortage of electricity and/or you don’t want to add to your carbon footprint with another electric device, you might want to consider filtering your water with a solar-powered water purifier. These give you the safety of clean drinking water without the hassle of packing batteries or fuel for a water filter.
Fun Solar-Powered Water Purifiers
Today, there are several different ways you can use the power of the sun to filter your water. Here are some of the more interesting options:
- Start by experimenting with distillation at home or on the road by trying out this simple water purification technique involving a couple of containers, some plastic wrap, an elastic, and some coins.
- The SteriPEN Adventurer Water Purifier with Solar-Charging Case is perfect for those concerned about weight and space constraints. This cleans your water without chemicals, test strips, or huge time investments of time (it can take a little as one minute) and results in clean-tasting water. By simply activating the pen, you stir it in a container of water to let the ultraviolet light rays purify the water of 99.99 percent of the protozoa, bacteria, and viruses.
- The SolAqua cleans water by using the energy of the sun to heat the water inside a still to the point of evaporation. The water rises then condenses and is deposited into a collection bottle.
- Combine the heat-producing power of a solar oven with the accuracy of a water pasteurization indicator and you’ve got a sure-fire way of knowing that your water is pure. Simply use the solar cooker to heat the water to 149 degrees F or higher—the temperature required to kill microbes such as E. Coli, Rotaviruses, Giardia and the Hepatitis A virus. The water pasteurization indicator will ensure you’ve reached the desired temperature every time.
- Eric Olsen (a San Franciscan architect) recently won the 2008 Metropolis Next Generation® Design Prize for his Disinfecting Tarpaulin. Although not commercially available, it works by pasteurizing water with solar energy using a method approved by the World Health Organization.