do better than what we did

a word of advice as you sift through the interweb looking for examples of how all the wonderful people in the past have tackled this problem...and they are wonderful people for all of their invaluable efforts!!

There are hundreds of technologies in place now that treat water on site in disaster situations. Not all of them are sustainable. I know the "s word" is a big buzz word now, but...Sustainability is really an "inter-generational promise". We are promising the next generation that we will do better than what our predecessors did...

For example, there was a post on the Life Straw. Examples of similar technologies include ion exchange and reverse osmosis systems. While these systems have worked wonders and are efficient, they are resource intensive...In other words, they are using resources in order to produce water. In the short term, this is a feasible approach b/c of the Rule of Sevens:

You can survive:

7 minutes without air

7 hours in freezing temperature

7 days without water

7 weeks without food

In a moderate climate stricken by disaster, providing water is the most important resource. So...current relief efforts will sacrifice just about anything to provide water. 

However, this is a short term decision with long term consequences (e.g., water bottle landfills).

The challenge to your generation is to do better than what we did. There are existing ways to provide water without consuming valuable resources or creating new, long term local problems. It just takes some creativity and refusal to accept old paradigms...

For examples of what is on cutting edge of science/engineering, see the Bill Gates

More later!

Eric Mc