Engineering360: "Water Purification in a Sack"

It is good to know that solar pasteurisation got the recognition of world bodies, which may be a great lifesaver for the people of the Third World.

We started work on Solar Pasteurisation devices as early as 1982 and had a few publications [1-5]. We focused on devices that people in rural areas in the Third World can make at home using available materials, so that they do not have to depend on supplies. We carried out extensive microbiological studies which confirmed destruction of diarrhoeal germs. Some communities used it in Bangladesh during problem times. We also have a design of a portable manufactured device which we called a 'LifeRoll' that can be rolled into a small package for delivering in disaster areas or easy carrying in a backpack (it is yet to get funding for manufacture).

1. Rabbani K S, Elimination of diarrhoeal pathogens from drinking water using low cost solar devices, Proceedings of the International Conference on Physics and Energy for Development, Dhaka, p.317(1985).

2. Rabbani K S, Provision of drinking water in third world villages - Alternative techniques using renewable energy sources., Proceedings, Second World Renewable Energy Congress, Reading, UK, p.774-778, (13 - 18 September, 1992)

3. Rabbani K S, Low cost solar thermal devices to provide arsenic and germ free drinking water for rural areas, Proceedings of the International Conference on Renewable Energy for Rural Development, BUET, Dhaka, p. 285-291 (19-21 January, 2002)

4. Rabbani K S, Looking for safe drinking water? - Techniques using free sunshine and rain – a publication of the Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2011. Can be viewed at: http://bmpt.du.ac.bd/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bookletonsafedrinkingwaterusingsimpletechniques.pdf

5. Rabbani K S, Low cost domestic scale technologies for safe drinking water, 7th International Conference on Appropriate Healthcare Technologies for Developing Countries, 2012. DOI: 10.1049/cp.2012.1465