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A new solar-powered water treatment unit provides purification, pumping, and power—all in one portable package.
After Hurricane Katrina hit, Mickey Ingles headed south to aid family members. His coworkers hurriedly passed a hat, collecting more than $900 to defray his travel expenses and help those affected. What he didn’t know was that his company would soon make a far greater contribution—that of an ongoing potable water source for the hurricane victims in Waveland, MS.
Ingles is a project implementation manager for WorldWater & Power, an international company that provides solar technology solutions for water treatment and distributed power management. As the Gulf Coast disaster unfolded, the company saw an opportunity to apply its expertise and equipment. It found that its existing solar-powered unit designed to pump water in areas without electric grid power could be retrofitted with water purification equipment—an ideal solution for Waveland's residents and relief workers, who had been using bottled water for more than a month.
The cost of customizing and delivering the unit was shared by WorldWater & Power and NAI Global, a commercial real estate firm that is introducing solar energy and technology to its network of commercial property managers. The unit operated in Waveland through May 2006 and is the prototype for a second-generation device, the Mobile MaxPure. This solar-powered water treatment unit offers Swiss-Army-knife-like versatility, incorporating the top needs of
emergency responders, say its engineers. It was introduced at the 2006 National Hurricane Conference and is currently in full production run.
As a critical response unit, the Mobile MaxPure provides the essential services of power generation, water purification, and satellite communications. The redesigned unit doubles the purification capacity of the prototype with a processing and pumping capability of up to 30,000 to 35,000 gallons per day.
It also offers 33% more power generation than its predecessor. With the flip of a switch, 15 solar panels automatically unfold to create a 12- by 18-foot photovoltaic (PV) array that generates electricity. A bank of high-capacity batteries powers the panel deployment and stores electricity for night operations.
The unit can be trailer mounted and towed into a disaster area by a pickup truck or an SUV, or it can be flown in via helicopter. “We’ve redesigned it as a modular unit, which does not have to be trailer mounted,” says Ingles. “We learned from our Katrina experience that roads are often impassable. So our newly designed model folds into a 7-foot cube that can be flown in. Also, several units can be stored or transported in a tractor trailer, and individual units fit international shipping container specifications. Regarding deployment and storage, it’s now far more user-friendly than its prototype, which was tied to its trailer,” he says.
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| The Mobile Max Pure can reach disaster areas by helicopter or by auto. |
Mobile MaxPure Technology
With as little as five hours of daily sun exposure, the plant is engineered to draw and purify water from wells, lakes, streams, canals, ponds, rivers, or other sources. Installed anywhere the sun shines—on a permanent, temporary, or semipermanent basis—its patented technology drives the water pump and powers the UV purification unit. Alternatively, the plant can also be operated by other sources, such as diesel motors, electricity from batteries, or a local power grid.
PV modules perform the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Wire conducts the electricity to batteries, where it is stored until needed (or it may be sent to the centralized electric grid). On the way to the batteries, the electrical current passes through a controller (regulator) that shuts off the flow when the batteries are fully charged.
“The plant has a very substantial battery backup capability, so you’re able to run directly from the sun or charge your batteries and purify at the same time. After dark, it will continue the purification process with your battery backup,” says Ingles.
Ultraviolet (UV) purification is known to be an effective viricide and bactericide. Disinfection using UV radiation has been more commonly used in wastewater treatment applications but is now finding an increasing use in drinking-water treatment.
The plant’s water purification system uses three stages of field-proven filtration and purification technology to sanitize water contaminated by dirt, silt, sand, bacteria, pathogens, cysts, and viruses—providing clean, potable water, free from harmful diseases such as typhoid and dysentery.
The first stage uses a media filter to reduce turbidity and to reduce the maximum particle size to less than 20 microns.
The second stage uses depth cartridge filtration to further remove organic and inorganic chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, microbes, and other impurities, and reduces particle size to less than 5 microns.
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| UV sterilization destroys viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa. |
The third stage uses UV sterilization to destroy viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa. UV light treats water by disrupting the DNA of target organisms, rendering them inactive and benign. Note that UV sterilization is approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an effective method for disinfecting drinking water.
Ingles explains that the plant is designed with dual purification systems. The water enters the system, splits, and flows into two parallel “legs,” each containing media and carbon filters in replaceable canisters. After flowing through UV filters, the parallel systems join at the exit port. “We’ve designed it with two systems so that the operator can independently shut down one side or the other for maintenance and still be able to process water through the side that is up and running,” says Ingles. “The systems also feature safety interlocks. If a UV lamp fails or a filter plugs, the water flow will stop, preventing any outflow of contaminated water,” he says.
As for filter life, Ingles says that’s highly dependent upon the quality of the water being fed through the plant. He also notes that the current model is not able to extract petroleum or heavy metals, adding that his company is working on a system with that capability, as well as one designed with a reverse-osmosis system for processing salt water.
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| Dual purification systems keep the system running during maintenance. |
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| Care Village pumped 15,000 gallons per day of potable water in Waveland, MS, after Hurricane Katrina. |
A Broad, Growing Market
“We’re getting calls about our mobile treatment plant from many international aid organizations. We’re also working with FEMA to be listed as a GSA [Government Services Administration]-qualified vendor, and we think that FEMA will be a very large customer at the federal level. At the state level, we expect to work with numerous states along the coast,” says Ingles.
WorldWater & Power is in the midst of a full production run of the new Mobile MaxPure. Ingles sees a vibrant market for the unit both domestically and internationally. Recent natural disasters have shown that all countries, whether industrial or developing, are vulnerable to severe resource deprivation. Rebuilding infrastructure is not quick, but the need for potable water source is immediate.
The United Nations estimates that $8 billion annually are currently spent on providing safe drinking water in developing countries, and more than $100 billion may be necessary over the next five years. WorldWater & Power has an agreement to use its solar equipment to assist in the rehabilitation of the coastal communities of Sri Lanka, where the 2004 tsunami had destroyed much of the country’s coastal water resources.
The company’s recent focus has been on US markets, particularly California and New Jersey, because of energy shortages, high energy costs, attractive rebates, and tax credits.
Effective in 2006, the federal tax credit for commercial solar installations increased to 30% for a two-year period, providing the largest tax incentive for solar energy in decades.
WorldWater’s ability to operate large-scale motors and pumps is especially important in regions where electricity is costly and diesel is considered as a top pollutant. WorldWater’s patented technology uses solar power to drive 600-horsepower motors and pumps, making it suitable for irrigation, refrigeration and cooling, and water utilities. Its competition currently handles a maximum of 5 horsepower with direct current, says the company.
WorldWater has been selected by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) as a Preferred Solar Partner—one of only two organizations currently recommended to ACWA member agencies for the implementation of solar electric power systems to drive water pumps and reduce electric grid bills. ACWA is a nonprofit organization representing 447 public water agencies that provide 90% of the water delivered for residential, agricultural, and industrial use. WorldWater is making proposals to ACWA-member water utilities for the use of its various proprietary solar-powered technologies to replace diesel pumps and reduce the use of grid electric pumps.
Writer Carol Wasson owns JCL Marketing & Communications Inc.
OW - March/April 2007
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