Swedish firm unveils solar water purifier
A Swedish carbon trading firm Tricorona has launched a device that uses solar energy to purify contaminated water to help limit use of firewood to reduce carbon emissions.
Each Solvatten unit holds 10 litres, and can treat water up to three times a day. After a few hours in the sun, the water is free from pathogens that cause dysentery, salmonella and cholera.
With the reduction in use of firewood, households save energy, money and the environment, which corresponds to a saving of at least one tonne of carbon emission per household per year, said Tricorona chief executive Niels von Zweigbergk.
“Firewood is used far faster than the growth of forests leading to a negative impact on the global climate,” he told reporters in Nairobi on Sunday.
“Tricorona is now developing a Solvatten-carbon offset project as a way to avoid deforestation and reduce carbon emissions.”
The device sells at Sh4,500 but the company is working with microfinance institutions to enable households get the purifier by paying monthly instalments of Sh500.
Swedish ambassador to Kenya Ann Dismorr said that the purifier is based on a simple yet effective concept that would directly benefit Kenyans in many ways, while at the same time contributing to environmental conservation.
