Water Collection
1) Pumping Groundwater is no longer enough
China:
-farmers in some areas are pumping water from a depth of 300 meters (~1,000 feet), raising pumping cost so high that farmers are forced to abandon irrigation.

-A World Bank study indicates that China is overpumping three rivers basins, the Hai, the Yellow, and the Huai River.

India:
-21 million new wells drilled are lowering water tables in most of the country. In North Gujarat, the water table is falling by 6 meters (20 feet) per year.
-In Tamil Nadu, a state with more than 62 million people in southern India, falling water tables have dried up 95% of wells owned by small farmers

Iran: -Under the small but agriculturally rich Chenaran Plain in northeastern Iran, the water table was falling by 2.8 meters a year in the late 1990s due to drilling of new wells to supply water for irrigation and the growing town of Mashad. Villages in eastern Iran are being abandoned as wells go dry, generating a flow of “water refugees.” 2) Other Options: A. Desalination B. Rain Water Harvesting i. Catchement Surface- Roof -material considerations -area ii. Conveyance -material considerations -PVC's impact on the environment iii. Storage iv. Other modifications: a first flush system, filtration C. Extraction water from the atmosphere SkyWater vs. Aqua Sciences


Water Purification
1) Focus: -What is the need?
-UV Waterworks
- Pros vs. cons
-Working out the cons.

2) What is the need/ Why is it important?: Some facts and news

a. October 2000- Arsenic Poisoning in Bangladesh
-85 million people were poisoned (Total population of Bangladesh at the time was 125 million).
- High concentration of Arsenic found in water.
- Millions of tube-wells were dug in 1960s financed by UNICEF and World Bank in Bangladesh and West Bengal, I
India in order to provide enough water for agricultural purposes and drinking purposes. However, unfortunately, the
wells were dug without testing for metal impurities in the environmnet [at that time, these tests were not mandatory]
and in later years, the wells became contaminated with arsenic.
-A 2007 study by Associated Press revealed that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are affected by
arsenic poisoning of drinking water.

-This Bangladeshi woman has been affected by Arsenic poisoning. The lesions on her palms are due to arsenic in her system.



b. January 28th, 2008-Bangalore
- About 200 people were admitted to the hospital due to water contamination (resulting in nausea, diarrhea etc).
- One woman, named Rekha, died due to gastroenteritis [inflammation of stomach and intestine].
- Reason? Bangalore Water supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) supplied the city with polluted water.


c. Some Facts:
1) The Patna Water Board (Patna is a state in India) collected 150 water samples from different parts of the city. After testing, about 45 samples were found to be unfit for human consumption.

2) The U.s. Water News published an article about the leading cause of cancer in Lucknow, India. Cause? Impure water.





So there is no doubt that there is an urgent need for a simple, effective and affordable purification system!
So this takes up to....

II. Technologies Available

There are many scientific procedures available that can be used to purify water
such as reverse osmosis, desalination, water softening, ultrafiltration etc.

Several third world countries such as India employ the boiling of water or simple
filters to purify water. These everyday methods are not successful in purifying the water of all its contaminants.

A. An award winning new technology: UV Waterworks
-invented by Dr.Ashok Gadgil ( a 53-year old scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
- won $ 50,000 for his low cost, low maintance water system.
- His invention is being used by WaterHealth (a company) and is right now being tested in several third world
counteries.
What is UV Waterworks?
Uses an ultraviolet light source suspended in air to inactivate a broad range of microorganisms.

-inactivates microorganisms by disrupting their DNA processes and so when the pathogens try to replicate, they die.
-tested extensively by third-party labs against a whole wide range of pathogens. The multi-stage filtration also removes silts, bad taste and odor
- cost? Right now, it can be afforded by people who earn less than $2 a day!!!!

- The modular design makes this technology scalabe and therefore, can serve communities of various size.

-Easy to use and low maintance!
Dr. Ashok Gadgil

Pros of UV Waterworks
1) Low maintance and Low energy: Can be powered by a car battery or 60 watt solar cell
2) Size of a microwave and weighs about 15 pounds ----makes the technology scalable!
3) It can disinfect water at the rate of 4 gallons/minute for about 5 cents for every thousand gallons.
4) Used in disaster relief (such as the Srilankan Tsunami)
5) Life savings will increase due to health benefits
6) Since women are primarily responsible for fetching water and its purification, UVWaterworks could greatly improve women's quality of life by reducing their workloads as well as the number of children they lose to waterborne diseases.
7) Marketing, managing and operating creates jobs.

Cons of UV Waterworks
1) $300 one-time capital cost
2) UV light needs replacing every alternate years
3) Many rural villages in India have used the "fetching the water and boiling system" for ages. It will be extremely hard to convince them to use the technology.

How to work out the cons?
1) Earn the trust of the people. Get the people to believe in WaterHealth technologies. Get the people from the case studies (Bomminapadu, Akividu) to vouch for the technolgoy
2) Allow the government to sponsor the technology.