Remarkable Energy-Free Water Purifiers

Many water purification systems require multiple processes, all of which involves the use of energy at some point. The simple distillation method for example, requires a heat source to boil and let the water evaporate. Now, this does not mean that we cannot purify water without actively spending energy, however most of the energy-free water purifiers that we know usually does not score that high in the efficiency category. A few microorganisms and chemical traces are still left in the filtered water.

But what if I tell you though that there are modern technological innovations that managed to get past this efficiency hurdle? I’ll introduce you to two slightly weird but very efficient devices that are used to purify water without having to actively spend energy.

The Lifesaver Bottle

The Lifesaver bottle is possibly the one of the most remarkable and innovative energy-free water purification device that is currently available. It was invented by water-treatment expert Michael Pritchard in the aftermath of the horrible hurricanes of the past few years that swept the clean water supply of whole towns and cities (Hurricane Katrina for example).

The device works by opening the bottle from the back, pouring the dirty water in, and pumping the water through 15 nanometer holed filter. As promptly demonstrated by Michael Pritchard himself during his talk at TED 2009, you can literally scoop up water from any source, and be able to extract safe and clean drinking water in mere seconds. Any heavier element, compound or chemical is filtered and separated, and even the tiniest of viruses and bacteria (25 nanometers) are left behind the filter.

The Lifesaver bottle even has a special “lifesaver” function. When the filter reaches its 6,000-liter filtration limit, it would no longer work, so as to preserve the life of its user. A larger version of the Lifesaver, the Lifesaver Jerrycan, can filter an average of up to 15,000 liters of water.

The LifeStraw

The LifeStraw has a similar microfiltering capability as the Lifesaver bottle. However as you might have guessed already, unlike the Lifesaver, the LifeStraw is used to directly drink from the source of water. It is part of the LifeStraw family (product line), and was developed and designed by the Swiss-based company Vestergaard Frandsen specifically for people who are living in developing nations and in areas where drinkable water supply is scarce. The filter of the LifeStraw has a slightly larger 20 nanometers (0.02 microns), but it is still capable of filtering the smallest of particulates and microorganisms.

Because it is significantly smaller than the Lifesaver, it is only capable of filtering around 1,000 liters. This amount is still quite significant however, for a water purifier of such small size.

Both of these innovative energy-free water purifiers aren’t that much actually advanced. However the ingenuity of the simplicity of their applications makes them relatively more remarkable. These devices technically free us from the bonds of bottled water, allowing anyone to enjoy safe drinking water virtually anywhere on this planet.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Andrew Mason via Flickr
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by US Army Africa via Flickr
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by bseshadri via Flickr

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Christian Crisostomo (251 Posts)

Christian Crisostomo is just your average tech geek that loves to see man's newest and most recent technological exploits. He holds great interest in the potentials of green technology, and is enthusiastic about the continuous development of environment-friendly alternative energy.

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