Posts Tagged “nufiltration”
By Diane Israel.
In certain areas, and vast swaths of some of them, i.e., the African continent, an estimated thirty to fifty percent of call corn harvest never make it to market. Not because of theft or corruption, but rather due to rodent infestation and inadequate sanitization in general.
Another Israeli company has figured out what to do with aging dialyzers, those devices used as artificial kidneys during patient dialysis. Turns out they work quite well as water filtration systems too. The remainder of this article was originally published in Israel30c.com.
Water security
Caesarea‐based NUFiltration helped solve the problem of what to do with some of the 125 million dialyzers (artificial kidneys used in dialysis) discarded annually worldwide: They sanitize and repurpose these sophisticated filters as water-purification devices for developing countries.
Inside the NUF machines containing four to 640 dialyzers, a single dialyzer can purify 50 to 200 liters of water per hour. “A system with eight dialyzers that costs one‐third of an equivalent, leading filtration system can produce eight liters of water per minute. This is easily enough to supply all of the daily water needs to 200 to 300 people in Africa — in one hour,” writes Wanetick.
The water purifiers are operated with hand pumps or solar power, requiring no chemicals and little maintenance, as their membranes are self‐cleaning. NUF systems are currently operating in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Fiji Islands, Cambodia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Food security
In Africa, a staggering 30 to 50 percent of post‐harvest corn (maize) fails to reach the market. A lot of that loss is due to rodent, fungus or aflatoxin infestation that happens when the grain is being dried and stored.
Tel Aviv‐based Amaizz resolves this problem with solar- or electric-powered modular drying, disinfection and storage units lined with thermoplastic and capped with anti‐algae meshes. The units’ unique ventilation system balances the humidity, precipitation and temperature.
Amaizz started sales with a unit in Senegal and is developing an add‐on disinfection system as well as a heating system that will be targeted to corn farmers in Latin America and Eastern Europe. The system also could be modified to deal with crops such as wheat, sesame, sorghum, rice, and coffee.
Diane Israel is a Chicago native and long-time supporter and advocate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She is also famous for her culinary recipes. Diane can be reached at Diane@IsraelOnIsrael.com