Family man happy with newly installed Solar Purifiers

Fredrick Cook, a father of nine would go a long way in ensuring there is quality water for him and his family.

Like other small islands in the Pacific, Cook's island home Nauru faces water problems and has many water safety and conservation concerns.

Under the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project newly installed solar purifiers have helped address these concerns and for Cook, this has helped supply more quality drinking water for him and his family.

"We're very happy with the results of the Solar Water Purifiers, we use the water for drinking and cooking and we are looking forward to having the water outlet directed to our water tank."

He added they now collect at least 30 to 40 litres of drinkable water daily.


Pictured: Mr Frederick Cook stands in front of his Solar Water Purifier outside his home.

Solar Water Purifier use direct sunlight to convert any source of contaminated water such as sea water and bore water into drinkable water using no filters and electronics.

In September 2011, the first of twenty Purifiers were installed in the district of Aiwo. The project needed to first test the success of the Purifiers by installing them in a few households such as Mr Cook's feedback and proved this innovative intervention very useful and helpful.

Aiwo was chosen due the high level of ground water contamination and phosphate dust levels.
PACC Project National Coordinator Ms Mavis Depaune said that the solar purifiers are currently on trial and it's been almost eight months since they were installed for the Aiwo community, and they are seeing positive results of the initiative.

"The Solar Water Purifiers are working well and are providing a safe, clean and viable source of water for use in the community.

Prior to installation last September community members were trained by a Sunsure Water Consultant Mr Steve Watts to caring and maintaining the solar water purifiers.

Like most equipment exposed to harsh and unforgiving conditions, the Purifiers need proper care to ensure it maintains durability also allowing the PACC team field workers to assess its success.

PACC Nauru continues to trial the solar purifiers in Aiwo and results from that will assist the project in replicating it in other areas of the island.

The PACC Project consists of 14 member countries; it is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).