Water&Sanitation Africa November/December 2020

Page 24

TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

Clean water easily and sustainably in remote locations

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any rural communities, schools and clinics in South Africa still lack access to reliable water supply and rely on unhygienic water from boreholes, rivers or lakes. This no longer needs to be the case. Finnish company Solar Water Solutions has developed an ultra-low consumption, reverse osmosis, water purification system. “SolarRO units run directly with 100% solar power – no batteries, generator or grid is needed,” says Vuokko Laurila from Envirotech Africa, a distributor of the unique water technology in Southern Africa. The system makes clean drinking water without chemicals and emissions, directly from impure rivers, lakes and

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The provision of affordable pristine water in remote and off-grid areas no longer needs to be a challenging task.

saline boreholes or seawater. The production water of the SolarRO units has also been certified as high-standard quality water, and meets WHO standards for excellent drinking water. Due to the variable nature of solar energy, SolarRO’s unique patented technology creates constant pressure for the reverse osmosis process. The automatic, adaptive valve system, ANVS, maximises water production, enabling optimal flow rate throughout the day. The result is the ability to produce clean water with solar power without energy

storage. All units can also be used with a hybrid power source. Solar Water Solutions can reduce the energy cost of desalinated seawater to 1.8 kWh/m3. A single SolarRO hybrid container can produce up to 500 m3/day. The scalable system operates with solar energy during the day and with a generator or grid during the nonsolar hours. Solar Water Solutions has ISO 14001:2015 Environmental and ISO 9001:2015 QMS certifications.

Zero emissions

This local solution supplies safe water to people living in remote areas without electricity, with no need to transport water. The need for singleuse plastic bottles is also minimised.


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