Off-Grid Purification Tech Could Make Clean Water The Norm In Developing Regions

An Israel-based startup, Alumor, has developed an off-grid water purification system that could potentially provide clean drinking water to millions of low-income households in developing countries. 

According to the Times of Israel, in many parts of the world, women are tasked with traveling long distances on foot to fill up jugs and jerrycans from rivers and streams.

Not only is the journey grueling, the water bodies they visit are also often contaminated with dirt, chemicals, or cause diseases such as cholera, typhoid, or hepatitis A. 

This led Alumor to seeking a viable solution that was sustainable and low-cost, which it calls Miriam’s Well, after a miracle source in Jewish tradition that provided water to Israelites while they were in the desert for 40 years. 

The device, powered by solar energy, doesn’t require an electric source to work, making it useful even in areas without a power source. Plus, it comprises advanced ultraviolet technology that helps kill viruses and bacteria in adherence with the US National Sanitation Foundation standards, ensuring the water is clean for drinking.

David Waimann, the company’s Business Development Director, said the filtration works simply by connecting it to a jerrycan with a pipe and pressing a button. The lightweight and easy-to-use solution, which only requires its filter to be cleaned a few times a year, can purify one liter (33 oz) of water for less than half a cent. 

Waimann told NoCamels that the brand’s goal was to have this “very important piece of technology” in “every single country in Africa.” It hopes the device “will be used one day by more than 100 million around the world, saving 100,000 lives.” 

“I was intrigued by this company because of one of the biggest problems in the world is unclean water for poor people. They can get water, there’s no shortage of water, but it’s just full of all kinds of bacteria, which kill you,” explained Waimann.

“In the west, we turn on the tap and don’t even worry about it,” he added. 

At the moment, Alumor has received a US$142,000 grant from the Israel Innovation Authority, and are looking for funding and investors to bring their invention to the next stage of development.

[via Times of Israel and NoCamels, cover image via Alumor]