A simple method of disinfecting contaminated water, which has been largely pioneered in Ireland, could save thousands of lives in the aftermath of major disasters, a conference in Dublin was told yesterday.
A conference organised by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) urged public health doctors and international aid agencies to consider using the innovative method of disinfecting contaminated drinking water using sunlight. The technique, known as solar water disinfection (Sodis), involves exposing contaminated water, contained in ordinary transparent plastic bottles, to full sunlight for six hours. The solar radiation destroys pathogenic micro-organisms, which cause water-borne diseases, and leaves the water safe to drink.
In a statement the RCSI said that the Sodis technique was particularly suitable in emergency situations since all that was required was a transparent container and sunlight. "Every year there are 1.6 million diarrhoeal deaths related to unsafe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene - the vast majority occurring in children under the age of five.
"More than one billion people worldwide lack access to an improved water source and clean drinking water becomes unavailable to whole communities following natural disasters," the RCSI said in a statement.
Commenting on the conference, the co-ordinator of the World Health Organisation's international network to promote household water treatment, Bruce Gordon, said: "Coupled with the one billion people worldwide who are recorded as not having access to safe drinking water, there are many more who drink water that has been contaminated in the piped distribution system, or as a result of unhygienic handling."
"Sodis is one of a number of technologies which can provide these people with safe drinking water cheaply and effectively," Mr Gordon stated.
