The management of drinking water is one of the topics that has not been dealt with during the United Nations meeting on climate change which took place in Copenhagen between 7th to 18th December 2009. The COP 15 organization, whose aim was originally to reach a binding climate change agreement and to make it effective by 2012 (Kyoto protocol expiry date),has failed to tackle one of the main environmental issues. In the world today there are a billion people who live without drinking water and in 2020 there will be an estimated increase of twice the present amount. Therefore, based on a general uncaring attitude ,a pessimistic/catastrophic vision where the Earth is seen as a planet with limited resources, with overheating causing an increase in barren lands ,in ice melting and consequently in sea levels rising, can be justified. All of this will inevitably lead to a mass migration of those populations badly affected by climate change. They will descend upon the rich countries claiming their right to be there as inhabitants of the same planet and internal conflicts might be taking place. Or we could be more optimistic and think that we live in one of the best kept planets and believe in the human ability and intelligence to adapt to such changes. There are already some people at work to resolve environmental issues by creating technological devices able to overcome such changes. For instance, photovoltaic purifiers have been created to tackle the drinking water issues. The Chemviron Midwest company has created a solar powered purifier (height 4.5, length 7.5 meters) named RedBird which can be easily transported in a container destined to everywhere in the world. As per an American company valuation this system can purify up to 40,000 liters of water a day.
Another private company which has recently developed a similar purifier is World Water and Solar Technologies. They created a mobile device capable of pumping and purifying an average of approximately 120,000 liters of water per day at a low cost.
Finally it is worth mentioning a simpler but not less important invention by the Swedish born Petra Wadstrom: Solarvatten. Solarvatten is a container that ,if left exposed to the sun for 3-4 hours, can purify up to 10 liters of water. This low cost device (only 35 dollars) has already been used in Nepal and Kenya with outstanding results.
Surely, there are companies and organizations which recognize the gravity of the climate change effects on water resources and pledge to improve the situation.. UNICEF support programs like “WASH” in over 90 countries worldwide which favors a sustainable development through the use of low cost technologies but this may not be enough. Since no one seems to have taken this problem seriously, new technologies that can at least reduce future risks for mankind as a whole are more than welcome.
For further information:
http://www.chemviron.com/main.html (American company specialized in environmental services)
http://www.worldwatersolar.com/ (Company specialized in photovoltaic purifying technologies)
http://www.solvatten.se/ (Solvatten official site) If you would like to propose or publicize your inventions or simply express an opinion on the matter please write to
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or in the environment forum. Translated by Antonio Marino | 
Environment 
