The Indonesian government has announced it
will partner with sustainable water technology firm F Cubed to set up
solar-powered desalination kits across the country.
Indroyono
Soesilo, secretary at the office of the coordinating minister for people’s
welfare, said on Thursday that there was an urgent need to provide a
sustainable and reliable source of clean water in villages and isolated
communities nationwide.
The
decision to partner with F Cubed, he said, was crucial in this respect. “We
need to immediately find a solution to providing clean water in areas that
experience chronic water shortages,” he said.
He said
the Australian company would work with the Agency for the Assessment and
Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI) to set up its Carocell solar-powered desalination kits throughout the
country.
Peter
Johnstone, the F Cubed founder and chief executive, said the desalination
technology that his company had pioneered was proven to produce high-quality
drinking water.
“Our
technology can turn water from any source, be it seawater, groundwater,
polluted or even contaminated water, into clean, potable water,” he said. “And
because it runs on solar power, the water can be produced at a very low cost.”
Among
the other benefits of the Carocell system that the company touts are that it
“emits no greenhouse gas emissions, uses no chemicals, no costly membranes, no
filters, no electronics and no ongoing power source is required other than
solar radiation.”
The
system is based on a single or a series of low-cost solar panels that can be
mounted on the roof of a building or on the ground. The water goes into a
feeder pipe running along the top of the panel, then is allowed to run down in
evenly dispersed streams to the bottom of the panel.
As it
flows down, it gets heated by the solar panel and vaporizes, condensing on the
inside of the panel enclosure and eventually dripping out through a clean water
outlet pipe.
F Cubed
claims the distillation process, high temperatures and exposure to ultraviolet
light kill any bacteria and germs in the water. The company also says its
panels have double the solar efficiency of similar water purification systems.
The
smaller of its two types of solar panels, with a surface area of three square
meters, can produce up to 20 liters of clean water a day, while the larger
panel, at six square meters, can produce double that amount.
Each
panel converts 30 to 40 percent of the feed water into clean water.
The
whole cycle can be carried out six times, after which the remaining fluid, with
a high salt concentration, is crystallized to produce salt, as part of the F
Cubed’s “zero liquid discharge” technology.
Johnstone
said the Carocell panels were already in use in 26 countries, including
Malaysia, India and Bangladesh.
“We are
currently assessing building a factory in Indonesia with investment of around
$10 million,” he said. “We want to participate in efforts to improve people’s
welfare by providing clean water and creating jobs.”
F Cubed
says that because the system runs entirely on solar power, there are no
mechanical parts and no electronics, making it ideal for installation in
remote, rural areas, as well as for use in disaster relief situations.
Antara
The
Jakarta Globe
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