Re: Water, Charcoal, and Stoves: Was Re: Practical boiling

[Harmon Seaver <hseaver@cybershamanix.com>]

Kevin;
    These are good ideas, however, you are leaving out the really most
serious problem with clean water today, at least in industrialized
nations -- chemical contamination. Whether from past toxic dumping,
accidental spills, or agricultural chemical use, our water is dangerous
to drink. Even the chlorine and other chemicals used to treat the water
for pathogens adds to the problem, and boiling it doesn't help, in fact
can even increase the danger. 
    Filtering it through activated charcoal is a good start, for that
removes many chemicals, but heavy metal filtering is also needed.
Perhaps osmosis filters and/or distillation is needed as well.


> Kevin Chisholm wrote:
> 
> Dear Tom
> 
> 
> 
>      Dear Karve, Crispin, Stovelist and Gasification list:
> 
>      I dream of making significant improvements in cooking during
>      my lifetime, but have added CLEAN WATER to my list of
>      problems because it fits so close to stove making and
>      gasification.  However, I am horrified at the idea of
>      boiling all drinking water.  What an enormous energy and
>      time expense.
> 
>       Water quality is indeed extremely important to general
>      health.
> 
>      How can one get an understanding and appreciation of "what
>      the world needs in a water system??
> 
>      It seems to me that CLEAN WATER could be an easy add-on to
>      gasification.  Clean water can be achieved at village scale
>      with activated charcoal and electric power.
> 
>      Clean water is one thing, but also, the salt content is a
>      consideration also; how much or the World's water problem
>      would be solved if "dirty fresh water" could be made clean,
>      in comparison to the level of improvement if salt water
>      could be cleaned and desalinated?
> 
>      Maybe there is a simple chlorinator that could make the
>      chlorine for a local water supply.  However, oxygen is
>      favored today over chlorine for pathogen treatment and a
>      simple ozonizer would achieve the same results - with 1 kW
>      power maybe.
>      One benefit of distillation is the inherent sanitization of
>      water.
> 
>      The downdraft gasifiers we make for electric power (15 kW at
>      CPC) typically produce 5 to 10% of a black "char-ash" that
>      has been to 700 C and above.  While not enough for GOOD
>      activation (giving an iodine number of >1,000) it does give
>      activated charcoal (IN >300).  If necessary I believe a VERY
>      simple activator could be added to the outlet of the
>      gasifier to achieve higher activation.
>      Is there a good Web Site, which tells "all about activated
>      clarcoal?
> 
>      I hope someone with a bad water supply will grab this idea
>      and demonstrate it.  Talk is cheap.
> 
>      Cost of clean water is a vital consideration. Would anyone
>      know what would be a "fair target price per litre" for a
>      system producing "clean potable water from dirty fresh
>      water," and for a system producing clean potable water from
>      brackish and from ocean water?
> 
>      There are really strange attitudes toward water pricing. On
>      the one hand if a developer offers a system to produce
>      potable water from ocean water for say $.10 per litre, the
>      "Customre" says "that is far too expensive", and then goes
>      and buys bottled water at $.50 to $1.50 per litre.
>      If we can get a handle on a "permissable cost range" for
>      potable water made from
>      a: dirty fresh water
>      b: brackish water
>      c: ocean water
> 
>      we can perhaps determine if there is a potential for stove
>      and charcoal technologies to make a needed contribution to
>      the resolution of the drinking water problem.
> 
>      Kindest regards,
> 
>      Kevin Chisholm:
> 
> 



-- 
Harmon Seaver
CyberShamanix
http://www.cybershamanix.com

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