Green vehicle has multiple uses

A local project aimed at making mass participating events more environmentally friendly could well have a role to play in future Civil Defence emergencies such as the Christchurch earthquake.
The concept of the Hydrohub, a portable trailer dispensing chilled and filtered water, is that is provides a cheap and green alternative to expensive drinks with disposable packaging.
Late last year the Hydrohub Project hit a "funding wall" but now, after re-evaluation of the project and the realisation that there is a strong connection to civil defence, the project has new life.
Craig Rall from Devan Plastics has taken a keen interest in the project and the basic trailer unit, made by Prescott Trailers, is now at Devan Tanks being outfitted with its renewable energy components and state of the art plumbing.
The original Hydrohub was predominantly designed to assist the greening of events and to be a showcase of renewable energy.
The new design has the ability to switch from "event" mode to "civil defence" mode, giving it the ability to dispense drinkable water from most sources without needing to be plugged into the power network.
It also has the ability to recharge cell phones and display civil defence messages.
"It will be interesting to discover if, after the evaluation of the Christchurch situation, there is an identified need for Hydrohubs in future civil emergencies," says its creator Karen Summerhays.
Karen hopes that once the prototype has been trialled and proven it will be picked up by other councils in New Zealand and the Pacific.
"The multi purpose Hydrohub (civil defence, waste minimisation and as a fundraising tool for community groups) makes it a good, and reasonable, investment in a public asset.
"It just goes to show that persistence pays off and with a little time and consideration a better product can be developed. I am extremely pleased that Craig has come on board and rescued the project," says Karen.
Craig says: "Devan Tanks prides itself to be in the forefront of innovation so this project is a natural fit for us and I am highly excited to be involved.
"I also believe this to be a great teaching aid for schools and communities for educating our children on sustainable water solutions, solar options and the importance of conserving water for the future.
"This will also be a means to assist in Civil Defence issues and will be a pre-treatment unit when needed to treat larger scale water supplies. We will be using as many local companies in the project as possible.
"There will be backflow protection to protect against cross contamination and we will try to use as many self sustainable energy sources as possible."