US-based Pure Aqua, Inc has designed and manufactured six solar-powered reverse osmosis (RO) water purifiers for Cameroon’s river water
Officials from the US firm said that each of the purifiers is electrically self-sustained to individual solar panels and can produce eight gallons of water per minute a piece.
The system begins the purification by dropping a submersible pump into the river, which deliver the water to a reservoir. The reservoir, in turn, pressurises the water and sends it through a media filter for turbidity and particulate reduction.
The system then sends the filtered water through an activated carbon chamber followed by a cartridge filter, which purifies the water down to one micron. Finally, the system pushes the water through a UV filter for final viral disinfection resulting in completely pure, drinkable water.
With a population of 20mn, a report in the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2013 stated that Cameroon’s capital city Yaounde’s three million-plus inhabitants alone need a daily water supply of over 300,000 cu m.
The Nyong River in Yaounde and Lake Chad are primary sources of water for the city but often the water coming out of taps is contaminated, according to reports. Several towns and villages in Cameroon do not have access to potable and clean drinking water either.
Pure Aqua, Inc, in its website, said that water — rainwater, lake or freshwater — can be treated using methods like ultra-filtration systems, media water filters, brackish water RO.
