In Tanzania, villagers have been placing plastic water bottles full of dirty spring water in the sun on their black tar rooftops. After eight hours (or less in very hot areas), UV rays and heat have killed off the bacteria that cause cholera, dysentary, and typhoid.
The water bottle approach has benefits beyond the reduction of digestive illness. Most villagers sterilize their water by boiling it, which is taxing, time consuming, and sometimes dangerous, requiring trips into the bush to gather wood. Additionally, the open fires cause respiratory troubles and eye irritation. (Though I do wonder about about the health hazards of the melting and leaching of the plastic as it gets heated repeatedly atop a hot surface.)
What remains one of the greatest impediments to wider adoption of this approach is simply education and information.
Worth bearing in mind as you pray and give towards development and the alleviation of sickness in the two-thirds world.
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Sterilizing Water with Solar Radiation:
Filed in: water, development, education, appropriate, technology
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