Low-tech filter turns muck to drinking water

Russell Kelly gets to work on one of his low-technology water filter systems that are creating interest worldwide. Picture / Simon Baker

A water purification device developed in New Zealand that can operate without electricity could bring widespread benefits around the world.

Christchurch inventor Russell Kelly has also caught the eye of Nasa, which has been so impressed with his invention it has allowed him to use its iodine technology (used for treating waste) and Certified Space Foundation brand - as it believes the devices will have a "significant beneficial impact on mankind".

"I didn't realise what a big deal it was at the time," said Mr Kelly, who set out four years ago to create filter systems that could be used in remote areas with badly polluted water supplies.

Although still in production, the devices are already engendering a buzz worldwide. The Kenyan Government wants them to supply to its nomadic Masai tribes and several global aid agencies are planning to work with Mr Kelly to get the systems to those most in need.

"The world is full of 'gonnas'. Everyone is gonna do this and gonna do that. We didn't want to be like that," the self-described "socially responsible capitalist" said.

"We are proud of what we have achieved. It has been a long, hard road."

Mr Kelly, whose partner in the water filtering business is his wife, Sue, has lived in Kashmir on the India/Pakistan border and travelled widely through Asia, so he knew that whatever he developed would need to be able to operate without electricity.

"When you see villagers in dire straits ... you realise that as Kiwis, it's interesting how much you know and they don't know what to do because they don't have that experience."

The devices Mr Kelly has developed range from a gravity-fed bag that can filter 12 litres of water an hour to a bicycle-powered unit that can produce six to eight litres a minute, right up to a 260kg unit that can produce 40 litres a minute and operate off a generator.

The largest unit can produce five litres of water per person a day for a population of 10,000.

Ceramic and carbon filters are used to purify the water but Mr Kelly needed something extra to ensure the water was completely safe. So he approached an American company that had created a substance called iodine resin - and that's where Nasa comes in, because that resin is used for recycling waste in its space vehicles.

Mr Kelly is now forming a charitable trust to help distribute the technology to aid agencies. He said many people had offered financial backing on the basis that they could see where their money was going.

Although he would not give the cost of the devices, he said the units would be affordable with the largest costing less than $20,000.

* Mr Kelly can be emailed at rhk@worldwidewater.biz.


Drink it down, the boss told me ... and I'm still alive

Drinking recycled sewage was not what I had in mind when I started work yesterday.

But in the true spirit of journalism (and with a little gentle prodding from my boss), I felt duty-bound to test for myself the product that could soon be available to millions of water-starved people around the world.

Russell Kelly, whose Nasa-backed water-purification equipment was being put through its paces on the public stage, exuded confidence as he mixed up his gruesome cocktail of untreated Christchurch sewage and E coli-laden water from the Avon River.

The assembled media throng groaned in disgust at the sight of the mixture, but Mr Kelly insisted it would be high-quality water fit for the tasting in no time. It was hard to imagine.

Buckets of the mix were poured into one of Mr Kelly's portable gravity-fed bag purifiers hooked on a wooden fence.

We gathered around, gazes fixed on the thin, clear tubing protruding from the bag and into an empty glass below.

Time ticked by, then came a stream of apparently crystal-clear water.

A very calm Mr Kelly took the full glass to his lips. We cringed. He drank. The verdict: "Just like tap water."

Now we had to see for ourselves. There was a slight hint of a chemical taste, which we put down to the iodine resin in the purifier, but otherwise truly as good as anything out of a tap.

Mr Kelly's product had the Herald seal of approval. As for after-effects: so far, so good.