Reading
The Desolenator: producing clean water
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Travelling around T hailand in the 1990s, W illiam Janssen was im pressed w ith the
basic rooftop solar heating system s that w ere on m any hom es, w here energy from
the sun w as absorbed by a p late and then used to heat w ater for dom estic use. Two
decades later Janssen developed that basic idea he saw in Southeast A sia into a
portable device that uses the pow er from the sun to purify water.
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The D eso len ato r operates as a m obile desalination unit that can take w ater from
different places, such as the sea, rivers, boreholes and rain,
and p u rify it for hum an
consum ption. It is p articularly valuable in regions w here natural gro u n d w ater
reserves have been polluted, o r w here seaw ater is the only w ater so u rce available.
Janssen saw that there was a n e ed fo r a sustainable way to clean w ater in both the
developing and the developed countries w hen he m oved to the U nited A rab Em irates
and saw large-scale w ater p rocessing. ‘1 was confronted with the en o rm o u s carbon
footprint that the G u lf nations have because o f all o f the desalination th at they d o /
he says.
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The D eso len ato r can produce 15 litres o f drinking w ater p er day, en o u g h to sustain
a fam ily for cooking and drinking. Its m ain selling point is that unlike standard
desalination techniques, it d o e sn ’t require a generated pow er supply: ju s t sunlight. It
m easures 120 cm by 90 cm ,
and is easy to transport, thanks to its tw o w heels. W ater
enters through a pipe, and flows as a thin film betw een a sheet o f double glazing and
the surface o f a solar panel, w here it is heated by the sun. The w arm w ater flows into
a sm all b o iler (heated by a solar-pow ered battery) w here it is converted to steam .
W hen the steam cools, it b eco m es distilled water. The device has a v ery sim ple filter
to trap p articles, and this can easily be shaken to rem ove them . T here are two tubes
for liquid com ing out: one for the w aste - salt from seawater,
fluoride, etc. - and
another fo r the distilled water. The p erform ance o f the unit is show n on an LC D
screen an d transm itted to the com pany w hich provides servicing w hen necessary.
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A recent analysis found th at at least tw o-thirds o f the w orld’s pop u latio n lives
w ith severe w ater scarcity fo r at least a m onth every year. Janssen says that by
2030 h a lf o f the w o rld ’s pop u latio n will be living with w ater stress - w here the
dem and exceeds the supply over a certain period o f time. 'I t is really im p o rtan t that
a sustainable solution is b ro u g h t to the m arket that is able to help th ese peo p le,’
he says. M any countries ‘d o n ’t have the m oney
for desalination plants, w hich are
very expensive to build. T hey d o n ’t have the m oney to operate them , they are very
m aintenance intensive, and they d o n ’t have the m oney to buy the diesel to run the
desalination plants, so it is a really bad situation.’
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Test 3
E
T he device is aim ed at a w ide variety o f users - from hom eow ners in the developing
w orld w ho do no t have a constant supply o f w ater to people living off the grid in
rural p arts o f the US. The first com m ercial versions o f the D eso len ato r are expected
to be in op eratio n in India early next year, after field tests are carried out. The m arket
for the self-sufficient devices in developing countries is tw ofold - those w ho cannot
afford the m oney for the device outright and pay thro u g h m icrofinance, and m iddle-
incom e h o m es th at can lease th eir ow n equipm ent. ‘People in In d ia d o n ’t pay for a
fridge
outright; they pay for it over six m onths. T hey w ould p u t the D esolenator on
th eir ro o f and h o o k it up to th eir m unicipal supply and they w ould get v ery reliable
d rinking w ater on a daily b asis,’ Janssen says. In the developed world, it is aim ed
at niche m arkets w here tap w ater is unavailable - for cam ping, on boats, or for the
m ilitary, for instance.
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Prices w ill v ary according to w here it is bought.
In the developing world, the price
w ill depend on w hat deal aid organisations can negotiate. In developed countries, it
is likely to com e in at S I,000 (£685) a unit, said Janssen. ‘We are a venture w ith a
social m ission. We are aware th at the p ro d u ct we have envisioned is m ain ly finding
app licatio n in the developing w orld and h u m anitarian sector and th at this is the way
we w ill proceed. We do realise, though, th at to be a viable com pany there is a b o tto m
line to keep in m ind,’ he says.
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The com pany its e lf is based at Im perial C ollege L ondon, although Janssen, its c h ie f
executive, still lives in the UAE. It has raised £340,000 in funding so far. W ithin two
years, he says, the com pany aim s to be selling 1,000 units a m onth, m ain ly in the
h u m anitarian field. They are expected to be sold in
areas such as A ustralia, n o rth ern
C hile, Peru, Texas and C alifornia.
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