>In the US we add chlorine
>(used to add flourine) and
>chlorimines. If they add the
>same thing where your brother
>is, he might be allergic
>to either the chemcial itself
>or the byproducts, but I'll
>get to those in the
>water treatment post.

What else is done to the water? The third part of the treatment, no..? I don't like the thought of chlorimines (thats the name, thanks) being used --- what happens to the chlorimines that are in the water? When it goes into nature, is it harmless and "broken down"?

(hope "broken down" can be said hehm)

>"Is the natural water in USA
>of so bad quality that
>it cant be used?"
>
>Generally speaking, NO. The quality of
>the water in the US
>is "good." I guess I
>need to qualify that. Essentially
>for driking water there are
>few processes needed to treat
>the water to levels accpetable
>for consumption by the EPA.
>That and the amount are
>the reasons that water is
>"cheap" in the US relative
>to other countries. That's also
>the reason that water is
>taken for granted.

Yes, i know how water is taken for granted - norway is known for its natural water sources (the water is sold in usa at extremly high prices heh). The most famous source is situated under a forest. The forest is on a hillside which is a moraine hillside that was created during the ice age, therefore the water spends 15 years being filtrated through the moraine - where the water is tapped and sold on. (It is cheap in norway..)
http://www.farris.no/images/txt_blir_til_grafikk.gif

The only problem i can think of is toxic rain on the west coast, caused by factories in UK

>"But how can WWTPs be used
>in countries without sewage -
>or, are there other alternatives?"
>
>
>There are many alternatives. In my
>mind the first thing that
>needs to be done is
>to build low energy, low
>maintenace facilities like lagoons, ponds,
>etc. that can be used
>to treat WW fairly effectively.
>Simultaneously, there is a need
>to educate those in need
>of WWT about the natural
>process and how to operate
>those facilities. As conditions improve,
>they can then begin to
>build larger more sophisticated plants
>for even better treatment. That
>way they can reclaim some
>of that water for irrigation
>and secondary needs.

I found a very good online book store about water development and treatment in the third world. They went even more into the basics than what you thought about: hand pumps. the collection of books together make enough information to know how to provide water in any rural area, it looks like!

http://styluspub.com/sect8-51.html

Community Water Development
Community Water Supply (The Handpump Option)
A Development Dialogue (Rainwater Harvesting in Turkana)
Hand Dug Wells and Their Construction
Hand Pump Maintenance in the Context of Community Well Projects
Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East (Current Practices and Future Needs)
Rainwater Catchment Systems for Domestic Supply (Design, Construction and Implementation)
Rainwater Harvesting (The Collection of Rainfall and Runoff in Rural Areas)
Surface Water Treatment for Communities in Developing Countries
Water Supplies for Rural Communities
The Worth of Water
Technical Briefs on Health, Water and Sanitation

(just some of the titles. many of them are training guides)

im wondering if this is something to work for! "1.5 billion people do not have access to clean water. The diseases related to water represent 80% of sicknesses in Third World countries today.", and it looks like most of the books above were focusing on these problems.

>"Do you know what is being
>done about improving water quality
>elsewhere?"
>
>I only know of a few
>projects in other countries. Mnay
>of those are to help
>upgrade existing facilities.

The ones i have heard about, in rurals areas and specially in the "third world", are organizations working to help communities constructings wells and other basic technologies/techniques. The best i have seen are those that work without introducing too much new and advanced and who work hard to go along with traditional methodes, involving the whole community

>BTW, does anyone know if I
>have to make a formal
>request to wbgirl to have
>this archived?

you have to send a message to her inbox when the post is off the first page. Yep, archive this thread! when we're all done here

—•—•— ••—• • —•• • •—•—•— •—•—•

Part 3 out of 12+ of Federisco's quote galore (two new quotes once in a while)

"views are just how one looks at things. We need to leave it at that." - We_B_Dat
"IfwhiteAmericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart" - The Manic Street Preachers

Scandinavian revolutionary & comedy/communist hiphop (click to listen):
( · · )
()
()

()
()

- -

eilert? hvor ble det av deg a? ◦▪◦▪◦ eilert? ....hvor er du hen, eilert?

░▒▓█▌¹♥▐█▓▒░

proud okayphotographer: http://www.okayplayer.com/okayphotographers/

"Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness." — Marshall McLuhan