An international team of scientists working in South Australia believe they have discovered a method for extracting pure drinking water from storm water using both natural and artificical purification processes. The water, which was stored under the City of Salisbury in a porous limestone aquifer underground succesfully met drinking water health standards when tested after the purification process, which involved passing it via a reed bed or wwetland, months of natural filtration in the aquifer, aeration, carbon filtration, microfiltration and ultraviolet disinfection. See the full story here.
Having an interest in the global drinking water industry and the humanitarian issues around it, we at the Water Cooler Company welcome the news that this discovery could help prevent water shortages in dry or underdeveloped countries. Some of the filtration processes used on the collected storm water are similar to the purficiation filters which are fitted to our mains-fed water coolers, for example the use of activated carbon filters in all our machines to ensure what purity.
Thankfully in the UK we generally have abundant sources of suitable drinking water which can be filtered and cooled in a plumbed in water cooler without the need to turn to other methods for collecting drinking water. As a company we never forget the less fortunate around the world who do not have access to clean drinking water and our committed to the prevention of water wastage. Hopefully news of this scientific development can be part of the solution to problems of drinking water availability around the world.