THE DESOLENATOR: PRODUCING CLEAN WATER
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During the 1990s, while making his way across the Philippines, Anton Vervloet found himself struck by the simple rooftop water heaters fitted to so many houses there: a panel would soak up the sun's energy, and that heat was then put to work warming water for use around the home. It would be another twenty years before Vervloet took that modest concept, first encountered in Southeast Asia, and turned it into a portable machine that harnesses solar energy to make water safe to drink.
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Essentially a desalination unit on the move, the Desolenator can draw on whatever water is available — the sea, rivers, boreholes or rainfall — and render it fit to drink. Its usefulness is greatest in places where the underground water has become contaminated, or where nothing but seawater can be had. It was after relocating to Oman, where he witnessed water being treated on an industrial scale, that Vervloet became convinced a cleaner approach was needed in richer and poorer nations alike. 'What struck me was the sheer size of the carbon footprint the Gulf states carry, simply because of the amount of desalination they rely on,' he recalls.
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Each day the Desolenator can turn out around 20 litres of drinking water, which is plenty to keep a household supplied for cooking and drinking. Where it parts company with conventional desalination is in its power source: no mains electricity is called for, only sunshine. The unit is 110 cm by 80 cm, and a folding handle built into it means a single person can shift it from one spot to another with ease. Water is fed in along a pipe and then travels as a thin layer between a pane of double glazing and the top of a solar panel, which the sun warms. From there the heated water passes into a compact boiler — powered by a solar-charged battery — and is boiled off into steam; once that steam cools, what remains is distilled water. A basic mesh catches any particles, and it need only be shaken to clear them away. Two outlet pipes carry the liquid off: one takes the drinking water, while the other removes the residue — the salt extracted from seawater, fluoride and the like. The machine's condition is displayed on an LCD screen and relayed to the company, so that maintenance can be arranged whenever it is required.
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According to a recent study, no fewer than two-thirds of people worldwide endure severe water shortages for at least one month in every year. By 2030, Vervloet notes, half of humanity will be coping with water stress — the situation that arises when demand outstrips supply across a given stretch of time. 'Getting a sustainable answer onto the market, one that can actually help these people, matters enormously,' he says. Plenty of countries, he points out, 'can't afford to build desalination plants in the first place — they're hugely expensive. They can't afford to run them either; the plants demand constant upkeep, and there's no money for the diesel to keep them going. It's a genuinely bad position to be in.'
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A broad spread of customers is in Vervloet's sights, ranging from householders in poorer countries who lack a dependable water supply to people living off-grid in remote corners of Australia. Once field trials are complete, the first commercial Desolenators are due to be up and running in Indonesia early in the coming year. In the developing world the market splits in two: buyers who cannot pay the full cost at once and instead use microfinance, and households on middling incomes able to lease a unit of their own. 'In Indonesia people don't buy a fridge in one go — they spread the cost over six months. They'd mount the Desolenator on the roof, connect it to the municipal mains, and have dependable drinking water every single day,' Vervloet says. Among wealthier nations, the target is specialist corners of the market where tap water isn't on hand — think camping trips, boats, or military use.
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What a buyer pays will hinge on where the purchase is made. Across the developing world, the figure will turn on whatever terms aid agencies manage to strike. In wealthier countries, Vervloet expects a single unit to sell for somewhere near $1,200 (£820). 'Ours is a business built around a social purpose. We know full well that the device we've dreamed up will chiefly serve the developing world and the humanitarian sector, and that is the path we intend to follow. All the same, we're under no illusions — staying a going concern means keeping an eye on the bottom line,' he says.
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As for the company, its home is Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, even though its chief executive, Vervloet, remains based in Oman. To date it has secured £410,000 in backing. His ambition is that, inside two years, it will be shifting some 1,200 units every month, largely for humanitarian purposes. The likely markets include Namibia, northern Chile, Bolivia, Arizona and Nevada.
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Question 1 - 7
Choose the correct heading.
List of heading
A benefit that came as a surprise
How many people are affected by water shortages
The variety of buyers the device could attract
Treating water taken from many different sources
Securing the funds needed to manufacture it
Solving difficulties in production
The quality that sets it apart from rival methods
How a chance observation grew into a product
An enthusiastic reception for the device
Why financial gain is not the main aim