Kenneth Persson, Professor of Water Resources Engineering at Lund University, said: “750million people lack access to clean water across the globe. Providing safe drinking water is one of the biggest challenges and one of the most important goals for humanity.”
The environmental company Watersprint, founded in 2013 by Prof Persson and engineer Ola Hansson, has patented the technology that helps purify water by combining UV-LED technology with intelligent software and Wi-Fi that monitors the machine. In case of malfunction, the unit will send out alerts via text message to any mobile phone that is connected to it, as well as through the LED lights on the machine.
Its 12V system is claimed to be so effective that it can be run by a single solar panel. The solar cells also charge its battery, which means that the portable facility can be used around the clock and in rural areas without access to electricity.
Yunus and his organisation Yunus Centre have ordered portable units as part of a pilot project. In October, the first unit was installed and by now, another nine units have been delivered to the project in Bangladesh.
“Thanks to these portable units, communities can now purchase inexpensive, clean water, and at the same time a lot of them can make a small profit by running the plants themselves,” Prof Persson added. “The installations are hopefully the first step to set up similar structures in several other countries that lack access to clean water.”
