Water fresh from the tarp (BBC) {ultra-cheap water still}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Matthew Knight
For CNN

LONDON, England (CNN) -- It may look like an air mattress you might see lying around next to a swimming pool but in reality its function couldn't be less trivial.

The Solar Water Disinfecting Tarpaulin (SWDT) -- a new portable water purifier -- could be a major step forward in the fight against disease and mortality in the Third World.

Eric Olsen, a San Francisco-based architect and the inventor of the SWDT believes the product could help eradicate the scourge of polluted water which the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate claims over 1.5 million lives every year.

Not only does it purify water -- up to 20 liters -- it makes it more portable in large quantities -- a vital dual role in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Central Asia where access to clean water is often scarce.

"There are lots of products that do one or the other," Olsen told CNN. "There's a really interesting product that's been around for 10 or 12 years called the Hippo Water Roller -- a 20 gallon drum with a handle attached that allows people -- mostly women -- to transport a week's worth of water back home".
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/15/olsen.solar/index.html

[Speck Tater]

1. This technique has been around for quite a while.

For example: http://howto.fiziwig.com/water/filter_purify/

[Javaman]

2. My dad taught me how to do this as a kid. nt

[XemaSab]

3. Wasn't this on "Voyage of the Mimi?"

:shrug: