THE PROBLEM
According to the World Health Organization, 1 out of every 3 people globally do not have access to drinking water. SODIS, also known as solar disinfection, is a method of treating low-turbidity water in which users fill plastic water bottles, oxygenate them, and let them sit in the sunlight. The bottles work best when tilted at an angle—users often leave the bottles on their roofs. There are two main problems with SODIS: the water treatment is inefficient on cloudy days and users cannot treat high volumes of water at once.
A BRIEF HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF SODIS DESIGN
SODIS was developed in the late twentieth century by the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science as a method of disinfecting water. Currently, 2 million people in 28 countries use SODIS.
In 2006, Italian designers Alberto Meda and Francisco Gomez Paz designed the Solar Bottle, a reusable container with both a transparent and an aluminum face that is capable of disinfecting water using the SODIS method. The design features a handle that allows users to orient the bottle at an angle in order to maximize sunlight exposure. The Solar Bottle won first prize in the INDEX Award Home category and has been displayed in the New York City Museum of Modern Art since 2007.
Below is an analysis of Meda and Gomez Paz's design.
THE PURPOSE
SOP improves upon the Solar Bottle's design and addresses the aforementioned problem of lack of sunlight in an attempt to serve as a product that will increase water accessibility in developing countries.
Below are ideation sketches, which show the progression of my ideas as I explored different shapes and components.
Below are digital renderings of my final ideation sketch.
The plastic pouch design ensures that the product as a whole will be extremely light, relieving the user of any potential burden they may have in carrying a heavy bottle from the water source to their home. Additionally, should users wish, a string may be threaded through the handles of multiple pouches and attached to the end of carrying pole.
A solar powered UV light panel is an important component of SOP because it allows SODIS to continue in spite of cloudy skies. Users can simply place the UV light next to the pouch on sunny days to charge. Then, when it is no longer sunny, users can disinfect their water in 6 hours (as they would when there is sun).
Magnets allow for the UV light panel to be attached to the water pouch. When the two are attached, light rays from the panel project onto the pouch in the same nature that sun rays do. Alternatively, magnets can also be used to attach pouches to each other for easy carrying.
Made with Adobe Illustrator.