How Siemens NX is being used to provide clean water around the globe
Access to safe drinking water has been recognized as a fundamental human right by the United Nations since 2010. However, over 4 billion people – more than half of the world’s population – still don’t have access to safe drinking water. For many of these populations, contaminated water poses a severe health risk.
To address this need, the Solar-Thermal Water Disinfection (SoWaDi) project group from Engineers Without Borders has developed an innovative water purification system using Siemens NX.
A simple, easy-to-build standalone system
To overcome the practical challenges associated with traditional water purification systems, the SoWaDi group knew that they had to design a system that could be easily constructed with widespread materials and easily operated. In creating this design, they embraced the ideal of “helping people to help themselves” to make water purification as accessible as possible.
To achieve these goals, they created a design in Siemens NX that could be built with simple tools and readily available materials such as wood, chicken wire and aluminum foil. With the aid of a step-by-step construction manual, this system can be built wherever water purification is needed. Finally, the design works without moving parts, which improves the lifespan and general reliability of the system.
Similar to a flat plate collector, their eco-friendly design uses solar energy to improve water quality through heat treatment. By using solar thermal water treatment, the design also avoids the environmental harm caused by traditional methods like boiling water using wood or coal, which contribute to carbon emissions, deforestation, erosion and air pollution.
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The project has already been successfully implemented in multiple countries. The team continues to collect data on their performance and reliability in real-world scenarios, which they are using to further optimize the system.
Designing a brighter, more sustainable future
Much like the SoWaDi group at Engineers Without Borders, engineering students around the world are eager to develop innovative solutions for water scarcity, climate change and other challenges facing humanity.
Siemens NX is the premier CAD/CAM platform to create and evaluate designs from a sustainability perspective. Download the student version of Siemens NX for free today and start exploring features like Sustainability Impact Analysis so you can turn your vision for a better future into reality.
