A billion people worldwide have access to neither clean water, electric power, consistent solar energy or readily available replacement batteries. Urban dwellers fear terrorist and natural disaster induced compromised electric and water delivery. Campers and the military need to convert questionable to safe water from streams and ponds. WaterSAFE answers these needs. A hand powered ultraviolet (UV-C) lamp and a filter convert polluted water into microbe free/clean/safe/odorless/tasteless pure water—anywhere any time. The model shown (4 quarts, 35 gallons/hour) will serve up to 5 families. Other models adapt to existing 1 quart (or smaller) existing bottles providing lower manufacturing and shipping costs as well as additional markets. An optional battery can provide power to an external lamp and/or a radio for increased emergency preparedness.

WaterSAFE was awarded US patent 7,090,779. (Patent is pending in India). When its handle/nozzle is pushed downward to pump water out of its reservoir, a tube attached to the handle drives a rack that turns a pinion. The pinion is connected to an appropriate gear set that rotates a small generator fast enough to generate the required voltage and current to power the UV-C lamp. Although using a generator to create electric power, with or without gears, is well established technology, using a hand driven water pump to provide power to a lamp in a water purifier is not previously anticipated.

Because the UV-C lamp is directly adjacent to the tubes pumping water to the nozzle, WaterSAFE requires a minimum size lamp for maximum sterilization. This lamp placement also provides visibility of its illumination (with UV-C radiation blocked) in the handle output nozzle allowing direct awareness that the lamp is on/working. And this safety feature is free; no LEDs and circuitry required.

An available CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis by a leading water purification company verified that WaterSAFE will destroy all known microbes with a 300% safety factor.

THIRD WORLD: this need/market is enormous as well as increasingly critical for survival. Simply put, due to overpopulation, increased industrial use and other pollution, the planet’s running out of safe drinking water, especially in most of the third world. Although massive marketing efforts are underway by major players, the bottled product is prohibitively expensive for much of the world and is in many cases not as pure as touted.

WaterSAFE provides a safe low cost permanent solution to this increasingly catastrophic worldwide problem. Stockpiling WaterSAFEs would allow delivery worldwide hours after a disaster. WS 3rd World Text Addendum 9-1-07.doc is available showing realistic financing in the Third World that, in addition to safe water, will provide needed income to the village by an owner selling pure water to neighbors at 3.5% of bottled water costs and 12.3% of mean family income,. (Other graphic and text documents describing WaterSAFE are also available including CAD models, cost spread sheets and “competition". There are no direct competitors). Projected retail is less than the "competition".