Irish researchers have helped develop new technology to disinfect contaminated drinking water that could save thousands of lives in the aftermath of major disasters.
The benefits of Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) were explained to delegates at a conference at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in Dublin today.
The simple new technology treats contaminated water by placing it in ordinary transparent plastic bottles using solar radiation from full sunlight for six hours to destroy the micro organisms that cause water borne diseases
Due to its simplicity, the method is particularly suited to emergency situations and is being used in over 20 countries.
The World Health Organization's technical officer, 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."
Dr Michael Elmore-Meegan, from the International Community for the Relief of Suffering and Starvation (ICROSS), Kenya, who was drafted into Thailand to implement the SODIS method, highlighted that adequate supplies of safe drinking water has been a major priority after the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia.
Delegates at the first day of the RCSI conference, which included around 30 researchers and public health workers, were warned that every year there are 1.6 million diarrhoeal deaths due to unsafe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene problems. The vast majority of deaths are among children under the age of five.
Researchers showed that more than one billion people across the world lack access to a good water source and clean drinking water is often unavailable to entire communities in the aftermath of a disaster.
The WHO has supported SODIS in its bid to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015.