The solar drinking water now in Haiti

Haiti Libre
March 26, 2011

As we announced it to you on February 11th, 2011, the company BIO-UV specializes in water treatment, developed a drinking water treatment plant (BIO-SUN) that runs on solar energy. Combining a very fine filtration and a disinfection by ultraviolet radiation (UVR), water is purified and freed of all micro-organisms.

Well, this water treatment plant has just arrived in Haiti and is expected to be operational within two weeks, according to an official of the company Lysa, an expert company in management and durable maintenance of water, cooperating with BIO-UV and operator since 2009 and for a period of 15 years of the Société des Eaux de Saint Marc (SESAM) thus ensuring the management of the network of water supply to Saint Marc. Currently the city of Saint Marc has 8 hours of running water per day but in the suburbs the supply is ensured through public fountains or retail outlets collective.

The advantages of this plant are mainly:

• Its low cost, indeed the plant cost about US$4.000 and the cost for 1000 liters is $0.34
  
• Its capacity, this plant can process the equivalent of 500 liters/hour [with 400 J/m2 of sunshine]
  
• Its autonomy, given its photovoltaic power, this plant [in the absence of sun] has a battery life of 3 days, 4 hours use per day [2,000 liters], which allows in this situation to meet the daily requirement of a hundred people.
  

To conclude, "... involve local people in the maintenance of the plant, will also create some economic activity around the facility, " hopes Delphine Benat-Rassat one of the responsible of Lysa.