Sustainability Problem
Many developing countries don’t have proper sewage systems, which contaminates rivers, bays, oceans, etc. and gets into drinking water, causing sickness.
Technology
Raw sewage contains many pathogens that are harmful to humans. Fortunately, there is enough energy in the biomass to boil the water and make it bio-safe. Janicki Bioenergy has designed a small plant which costs roughly $1.5-million and can process sewage for a community of about 100,000 people.
The technology is very different than a traditional waste water treatment system because, instead of taking electricity from the grid, releasing water vapor into the atmosphere, and using natural gas for operations, the OmniProcessor recaptures used energy and uses it again. This process makes it a lot cheaper and more environmentally-friendly.
Stakeholders
- Citizens of developing countries
- Governments of developing countries
- Water treatment companies
- Medical practitioners
Steps to implementation
- Propose as water crisis solution to UN, other agencies, getting developing countries interested.
- Find external sources of funding for several projects.
- Start several pilot programs in different countries.
- Assess whether it is a scalable technology.
Sources
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/omniprocessor/
http://janickibioenergy.com/s200.html
I believe businesses would also be one of the key stakeholders. Companies could fund such a project through their CSR budget. This would not just be beneficial to the community but also will help the company offset its carbon footprint. It could done in the form of a public-private partnership with government, multilateral or bilateral organization along with a corporate backing this project.
LikeLike