Grant Warkentin - Campbell River Mirror Published: May 21, 2009 5:00 PM
Norm Reader drank purified sewage and lived to tell about it. “Three of us drank it. That was over a month ago and we’re still alive,” he laughs. Reader is one of the bosses at Timberwright Manufacturing by the airport, which manufactures custom wood products for homes such as trusses, siding, cabinetry, finishing work and flooring. His business is working with Purio Environmental Water Source Inc. to see if it’s feasible to install water purification systems in remote coastal communities. The systems are capable of producing safe drinking water from polluted sources, even sewage, and to prove it during a visit to Campbell River last month the purification company reps hooked the machine up to Timbewright’s septic system outflow line. “Within 30 minutes of the water coming out of the line (and entering the purifier)…what came out the other end, we drank,” Reader says. He says the water was pure, clean and safe. And after seeing the technology for himself, he believes it could be used in remote communities and islands where it’s difficult or prohibitively expensive to build water wells and sewage treatment systems, from First Nations communities to private islands. “For me this has got absolutely huge implications for any small community up and down this coast,” he says.
Daryl English, Purio’s president, says his company was approached by Timberwright’s owner Kevin Beaveridge. “He learned of our technology and he had a number of customers who he thought would be interested in using that technology eventually, pending the approval of the regulatory authorities,” he says. Purio brought a demonstration unit to Campbell River. “We wanted to prove the technology was safe enough to take sewage and make it drinkable,” English says. “We actually turned it into potable water.” He hopes developers are interested in the technology, but it’s not cheap. One unit costs roughly the same as a traditional septic system and requires an operator to run it, although it wouldn’t be too hard for someone to learn how, he says. But on the upside, costs could be shared – the company’s smallest unit could handle 8-10 homes. “It’s really made for areas, subdivisions, island subdivisions, where traditional septic systems really aren’t practical,” he says. The purifier’s benefits aren’t just treating sewage. The machine would be handy in areas where water is scarce, and where access to electricity is limited. The purifier can act as a water recycler and can also run on solar power – its electricity requirements are low.The company is already working with an international aid agency to see if it would be feasible to install units in west Africa, where the lack of access to clean drinking water is “the number one problem in the world today,” he says.
How does it work?
The water purifier is different from other purifiers because it does not use any membranes or filters. It relies on a mechanical separation process to separate solids from liquids. Visit campbellrivermirror.com to see a video showing how the machine works.
Tech demo
Purio is bringing the purifier back to Campbell River tomorrow. The company will be putting on a demonstration at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Timberwright, 1-2000 Jubilee Parkway, near the airport.Interested developers and the public are welcome to come see the machine in action.
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