Tuesday, May 17, 2005
HOWTO filter water with coffee grounds, clay and cowshit
Here's a recipe for making an effective water purifier using coffee grounds, cowshit, and clay. Clean water is hard to source in the developing world, and charcoal/iodine filters aren't cheap when you're living on a dollar a day. This, on the other hand, makes use of materials that can be had for free or close-to.
A handful of clay, yesterday’s coffee grounds and some cow manure: the ingredients that could bring clean, safe drinking water to much of the third world. The simple new technology, developed by [Australia National University] materials scientist Mr. Tony Flynn, allows water filters to be made from commonly available materials and fired on the ground using cow manure as the source of heat, without the need for kiln. The filters have been tested and shown to remove common pathogens including E-coli.Link (Thanks, Alex!)
posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:12:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments
