David Lock

The terrible disaster in the Philippines got me thinking about clean water supply. It's ironic that thousands will die when the victims have no access to clean water despite all the rain.

So why doesn't UN or a similar organisation get the locals to construct concrete bunkers in areas near to some of the larger villages that can be used to store water and provide a trickle feed for drinking only if a disaster occurs. The bunkers could incorporate a basic communication system fed by power from a solar panel which would enable a village to communicate its status in the event of a disaster striking, to a central gov't HQ.

For a place like the Philippines which has dozens of typhoons a year I would have thought this was money well spent. A lot of lives would be saved for minimal cost.

Any comments?

dl

grey_boy

Just send in OKOs
They filter water from any liquid...except oil and oil based bi products, amazing and designed for scenarios like this
http://www.okoh2o.com/

David Lock

I have seen similar but smaller items like above but cost would be prohibitive for large scale use?

A concrete box with liner would be cheap to build and last for years.

dl

Chip

Why not just build a covered reservoir?

David Lock

Well that's what I meant. Reservoir sounded rather sophisticated when I was only thinking of a fairly crude construction.



David
(ex-water engineer who has designed and supervised construction of several large underground reservoirs).

hodgy0_2

why do we treat our water to the nth degree then flush 99% down the toilet?

tony de wonderful

I would imagine that it would be too expensive to have two parallel water mains systems, i.e potable and non-potable water.

hodgy0_2

just have not-potable and bottled water for drinking

Matteeboy

Where's the UK response to this disaster?

We pay millions to tin pot dictatorships and countries with space programs but what about real disasters like this?

tony de wonderful

Bottled water is an environmental disaster.

David Lock

Which brings me to my cunning plan no 2

The plastic is recycled, along with other waste plastic, and turned into plastic panels which are then bolted together, weighted down, and used for temporary shelter or even semi-permanent housing and would withstand earthquakes and hurricanes (but not serious floods).

dl

David Lock

UK has given £6m so far which is being used to clear areas like runways. More money will be given but a drop in the proverbial compared with India I expect.

dl

David Lock

Water from the Thames is recycled several times so you are drinking your neighbour's pee

dl

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

I think many of the people in that part of the world live with a primitive understanding, with little concern for thier own sfety. My wife and I spent a few weeks on Borneo a few years ago, on two occasions we boarded a very basic boat to cross the Sulu sea where waves were over 3 or 4 feet high and really battering the little boat - personally I was apprehensive about it and insisted on life jackets for my wife and I. Part way through the journey, it was getting more dangerous than I was comfortable with, the sky was black we were in the middle of an electrical storm and we were bailing a mixture of rain and sea water out of the boat with buckets. I suggested to our interpreter that we should turn back. He said it would be ok, if today was our day to die, then we would die. I am not sure the natives of these countries (in my case Malaysians) have the same perception of risk that you or I might have. Reminds me of another occasion where we accidentally encountered a huge orangutan while walking. My instinct was to get my wife and I to a safe distance, our interpreter and guide reached out for its hand, quite pleased with what we had just discovered. When my heart rate normalised, i got the opportunity to shake hands with a wild orangutan, before it ran of into the undergrowth. This thing could have broken me into pieces had it wanted to, but the native guide who was about half my size had no fear for her safety at all.

David Lock

[quote=tarmac terror;11261702

..... i got the opportunity to shake hands with a wild orangutan, before it ran of into the undergrowth.

[/quote]


Good practice for SN I would think


But yes I know what you mean. Like my taxi drivers in Africa. Would take me out to the middle of nowhere with the tank on empty........

dl

RA Dunk

Alot on here are no better than Chimps anyway, infact they could probably learn something from them.

Tidgy

It's not fit for human consumption mate, even the covered res's in this country are pretreatment not drinking water. Water turns nasty very quickly if it stagnant so you have to keep it flowing so a storage system like that isn't an option unless you chem treat it. That has to be monitored so its not over treated and then suddenly your into millions of £ per site for little gains.

Also whos gonna pick up the tab, your talking hundreds of thousands/millions of people, you'd never get a tank big enough to make much of a difference. Don't forget most res's in the uk are just dam'ed up valley.

Possible option is treatment tablets, but they arn't infallable. We are very very lucky in the uk with our water system, not many countrys actualy have a tap with safe drinking water in all homes.

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-24899006
UK donates £10M to Phillippines for disaster aid, thousands dead, thousands more homeless.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...id-budget.html
And yet we spend £20M on 5 star hotels, for the Department of International Development.

David Lock

I am sorry but that is not correct. You can store a large volume of water in a covered concrete reservoir and it will stay fresh. I have helped construct several in UK and overseas. Anyway there is no reason for a reservoir in Philippines not to be used during non-hurricane seasons thus circulating the water. Having say 3 days water supply for emergency situations would save thousands of lives. Water is essential and food is slightly less important.



I agree completely. It's almost criminal. Part of the reason is that generally staff at DFID are lazy b,astards and it's easy to say yes to some big plan and sign off a few million rather than get off their ***** and do things properly. I know, I have worked with them.


dl

Tidgy

Not in the situation mentioned. The Spec of res that do store clean water are allot higher as you know which will make the cost astronomical, also they would need to be made earth quake shock proof and sealed to prevent water ingress even when submerged. UK were very lucky, no quakes, no typhoons etc etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just its not a viable option cost wise.

Package plant treatment systems might be a more viable option though, shipping containers lifted in by chinook, they are in place for emergencies in the uk anyway lol.

David Lock

I have dealt with package plants and it could be an answer but they do need careful maintenance and don't last for ever. I am also not sure if they would deal with saline water? I have never designed a reservoir with earthquakes in mind so I can't comment on that. I think "astronomical" is too strong a word to use for cost. And of course a decent reservoir will last for years. Certainly worth looking into IMHO. One problem being that giving aid for reservoirs is not as sexy as flying in tens of thousands of water bottles.

Also it can't be beyond the wit of man to harvest clean rainwater when half a metre falls out of the sky in a day.

dl

dpb

Presumably the bottled water solution won't work for the same reasons malaria/ aids treatment doesn't work. Too much profiteering

Tidgy

Earth quake is a massive consideration, especialy in a large concrete structure.

desalinisation plants aint very cheap to run, but when its life or death then its viable.

As far as storage of drinking water i;d expect it to still have dosing and recirc equipment and pipework so you'd still be back to maintenance and so on and so forth.

Tidgy

pretty much, although contracts could be set up for it im sure, also bottled water can actualy be worse than drinking water from our taps.

Type_R_1984

Do we have fluoride in our tap water? Or is it just myth as I've heard fluoride is not fit for human consumption?

David Lock

I think most water companies in UK have stopped fluoride because it mottles the teeth and there are health questions. On balance though a trace content is probably good for you.

Chlorine, as Chloros solution or similar, is the key to water treatment as a basic and this is easily tipped in to stored water. It's generally the stuff you taste in our tap water if content is too high say 2-3 ppm. Also the "swimming pool" smell as it kills any bugs from pee.

dl