Alessandro Jones

Thank you for your answer.
The SODIS method could have drawbacks, for example the leaching of bottle material.
This is a problem, but there are 2 kinds of problem:
1 a device has its own drawbacks for its nature ( for example the plastic material of the SODIS bottle, it could be the PET ) ( For this problem you have to look for informations from experts )
2 a device has not drawbacks for its nature but it could be dangerous if you use it in a bad way.
You are right when you say that something could be a risk, for example the post you wrote about, that says that it could be possible to get drinking water without boiling it.
For every method you have to see if there are the two problems.
I am looking for the second kind of devices, those that haven't got drawbacks for their nature.
About the SODIS method, I hope that this could be useful, but it has got the first problem, so you have to read reliable documents, for example WHO and WSH research: I think that this problem is without a definite solution, but maybe there is a hope if WSH says that it is a good method, it is a discussion still without a solution, but if in that WSH document ( maybe a bit old, you have to see if their researches still confirm it ) it is still considered a good method, despite the leaching of bottle material, there is a little hope.
The second kind of devices is a very good thing: the solar still you wrote about, and artificial UV rays that could be a danger if used in a bad way, but there are ways of protecting from them: these devices have the second kind of problem, that can be solved in a definite way.
I like very much this second kind of devices, and I am looking for them, however I am interested also in the first problem about the SODIS.

Thank you for you answer, Andrew.
I had already read an article about admitting failure from the EWB Canada website.
EWB Canada's failure is a bad news, but I have a different opinion about what is the failure: if you failed helping someone it is a failure, and about this they didn't fail enough, but for me the real failure is the fact that someone needs their help, and if you help someone and you don't succeed in doing this you don't do something useful, but you don't do an evil thing.
I read the "next message" about boiling water, I don't want to say that there are methods that could replace boiling water, but that there are methods that could work better together, for example, about boiling water, I don't dare even say that boiled water is safe, because it can kill some bacteria and viruses, but not every bacteria and viruses, and besides it doesn't remove chemicals or other substances in the water.
I said about the SODIS method that the WHO and its section WSH wrote about it, and about many other methods to get drinking water: Managing water in the home: accelerated health gains from improved water supply - Heat and UV radiation.
So, of course I don't say that something is safe, because I don't have a good knowledge of this, but if the WHO and the WSH say that those methods are at least good and useful I think that it is a good thing.

Hi everybody! I didn't write in this post for a long period, but I am still interested in this subject. Thank you for your help! From now on I'm going to see nearly every day if you will add your ideas here, even if I didn't write a message. If you are interested in this you could write here or send me a message. Thank you everybody!

Alessandro

Thank you for your answers.
Erica, I agree with you, infact I am looking for the best ideas, without considering the price, however personally I like to begin from cheap devices. That devices are 'nearly free' not only because even a simple PET bottle has a little cost, but also because sometimes if you pay a little for a patent, or if you have to buy the materials, it is worth it.
About chlorination, some chlorine compounds or some compounds that chlorination produces could be carcinogenic.
I don't know well this aspect, but maybe we could talk also about this.
Infact, as for the SODIS method, this method could be dangerous. About the SODIS method the WHO says that it is dangerous but far below WHO guidelines for drinking water. However these two methods could be dangerous for our health. I don't want to say that these methods are safe, however I still have many hopes for the SODIS.
Shawn Bell, I didn't find the pdf file, I'll look for it better, but if someone could post the link, as Ronie suggested, it could be useful. Could you post it, please?
Ronie, I knew the solar still idea, I think that it could require a lot of solar power, I hope it could be useful for you, for volunteer projects it is very good.

Ok, I think I am lucky because I had many ( too many ) possibilities to talk about what I am interested in, but you are right, because I still didn't answer to this question, even if the answer could be hidden in my questions and in the fact that I consider useful your answers.
The answer could be this:
1 A) as I wrote before I don't know if these informations could be useful for volunteer projects or not, and this is an important issue;
1 B) at the same time this could be useful for you or not, and for other people or not;
2 I said that I am looking for informations, but, at the same time, I'd like to share the informations I would find;
3 "I am at your disposal", this is an important aspect, because I am interested in these informations and for this I am looking for people interested in the same thing, and to whom this could be useful ( but for now you helped me and I didn't help you ). I said that I am not an expert, I am looking for people who could use these devices, they could be volunteers, and I am interested in volunteer projects, and I am interested in volunteer more than in this research.
4 As I said, I am more interested in volunteer projects than in this research, and I think that voluntary works are completely different from this, a volunteer is "on the field", and I am not doing this, but I could answer to your question saying that I think that this ( to be a volunteer "on the field" ) is the most important thing to do.
Now I am doing a personal research that is not volunteer, I said that I don't know if it could be useful, it is only a personal interest, less important than volunteer projects, but of course I hope that this could be useful. This is another important aspect, infact this "research" will always have the second place, and I have to remember this.

Maybe there is a misunderstanding, or maybe there is not.
"personal interest" could mean:
1 personal benefit
2 something that "I" love
I don't know if this is a misunderstanding, but if it was so, I specify that I talk about something that I love, the second possibility.
There is an important thing to observe: you asked me if I want "to educate a specific audience", I'd like to share these informations, but if you look carefully this topic, you will see that I'm not here to "give" informations, but to "look for" informations, infact you spent a bit of your time for this, but I said that the only thing I can say is that I love parabolic collectors.
I think that this could be useful for volunteering projects, but maybe it is not useful.
So I don't know if this is a good idea.
However I am at your disposal if I could do something for you.
So, I am interested in volunteering projects, but I am at your disposal if I could do something for you.

Enviroman,
I don't know any information about sand filters, but this is the article I found in this forum, and it is for this article that I began writing in this forum.
https://permies.com/permaculture-forums/6576_0/permaculture/bio-sand-filter-and-sodis-solar-disinfection

Ronie,
it is not for my own use, but a personal interest.
I'd like to know if these devices could be useful for a NGO on the field and what could a person do with his own resources.
This could be useful for someone, for now it is only a personal interest and it could remain a personal interest, but I'd like that this could be useful for someone. Infact for now it is only a personal interest because I didn't found how these informations could be useful.

Also a fence could prevent a contamination.
About the SODIS method there is the possibility to increase the effect with a parabolic collector ( or a generic collector, this is called SOCO-DIS ), and about the "leaching of bottle material", that could be a serious problem, there could be many solutions, you found a solution, it is sufficient that the water doesn't touch the PET plastic, for example the plastic could only cover the water.
However the WHO said that the leaching is below WHO guidelines for drinking water, but this is a very important issue.
As I said before, you could find useful informations in WHO website, if you indirectly look for: "Water Sanitation and Health (WSH)" in your browser. WSH is related to WHO.
The subject of this research:
about WSH, this article can represent the subject of this "research":
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/wsh0207/en/index4.html
The aim of this research ( only a personal interest ):
in the same article you can read that UV rays are very good, but I said before that these devices based on UV lamps could be patented, so the information given by WHO could be not true, the aim of this research is to find out if a single UV lamp is patented ( but this is only my personal interest ).
I said that my personal interest is to find out if a single UV lamp is patented, but here it could be useful to know for every device if it is patented. ( The SODIS method, with the cautions for the leaching of bottle material, is not patented. )
I'm sorry for the lenght of this message, I wanted to write also the aim of this research that is a personal interest, however everything but this could be useful, and I add something else that could be useful: if you open the link I wrote, you can see the article about "Heat and UV radiation", and on the right you find a list of relared articles ( whose number 5 is the same article ), those articles could be interesting.

Thank you, Ronie!
I heard about that method, I talked about it with a person who has been in Ethiopia and he said that, in this case and in general, it is necessary to see that the place is free from animals that could pollute the water.
Thank you for your information, I will add it in my research.
I began this research for a personal interest, and I am still interested in this, because I found out the parabolic collectors, and some other devices to get drinking water or devices that could be useful.
I am still interested in this research because I love parabolic collectors, for me this is sufficient.
However there are many other devices.
Ronie, you are going on in talking about these devices, I am going on in adding them and, if I found something that could be interesting for you, I would write you about it.
Now I can only say that I love parabolic collectors, and for me this is sufficient.
So, this is the only thing I can give, tell me if I could do something for you.

Ronie,
of course, don't worry.
I'm sorry, this misunderstanding is my fault.
Infact I said before that I wanted to talk by email, on October 31, 2011, 05:23:18 PM.
This is because I wanted only to find a solution, a conclusion to this topic.
So, I didn't write that for you, but because this could be useful for my "project".
Now I am wondering if my "project" could be useful for anyone, and this is the most important thing ( and in your previous post you wrote that it is useful, so you encouraged my "research" ).
OK, I found the conclusion:
1)
I said that "Now I am wondering if my "project" could be useful for anyone", with this topic I understood that it could be useful ( not my "project" in particular, but the ideas it is about and the people interested in these ideas, who do not necessary know the project );
2 A)
I am doing this research because I think that a parabolic collector, the SODIS method, and every device we talked about are exciting ( I love them! );
2 B)
you added your ideas ( I love them too! I didn't know the Fresnel lens, and also every device you talked about is great! ).
So, this is the conclusion:
I love these devices, I am at your disposal if you want to talk about these devices, I don't want to be inopportune here, I don't know if this is the right place to talk about this, if you want we could talk about this by email, my address is volpeegiziana at gmail.com, or if you want we could talk about this here.
The conclusion is this:
I am going on with my personal research, you could add your ideas, then I can write the "constantly updated document" with our ideas ( here or by email ).
If this discussion finished because it could be abandoned and forgotten, I would continue my personal research by myself.
"A conclusion for this conclusion" is that if we all talked about this by email this discussion wouldn't be forgotten, and we could see who are the people interested in this discussion.
Then, if someone was interested in reading the result of the discussion here, I could write it here.
Thank you, Paul! We could write here something about sand filters, and by email we could talk about everything that is not appropriate for this forum.

So, I am going on with this research, if anyone would join you all are invited.

But I think that this discussion could be forgotten, so I don't want to say anything else, consider this message as the last, because if I could do something for you or if this project could be useful to you, I'm here until this discussion will be forgotten, and this depends on you.
So, tell me what could I do for you, let's talk about sand filters here ( or everything else that could be appropriate for this forum ) and if I could do something for you or if this project could be useful to you, I'm here, you could write me by email until this discussion will be forgotten.
Thank you!