The Slovak-made Strazan water purification tanker truck can purify 50 ℓ of water a minute to provide clean drinking water using any source of water during droughts, emergencies or military operations, says local distributor Zero7Health CEO Tatiana Lhotsky.

The versatile 6 × 6 truck is able to access remote locations and cross rough terrain to supply purified water using membrane filtration without requiring any chemical dosing. The tanker can carry 8 000 ℓ of water and can also be used to fight fires, says Zero7Health executive director Thoba Karl-Halla.

The technology is a solution to solve the dire humanitarian situation caused by water shortages, rather than as a commercial proposition, says Lhotsky.

The company will help local authorities with expertise to strategically establish steel water tankers to preserve instantly purified water harvested from the current floods to provide water during dry seasons. In times of drought, the water purification vehicle will also transport water from one location of plenty to refill the steel tankers stationed at needy areas.

“The purpose of this truck is to immediately supply water in areas experiencing severe supply problems using any water source or transport water to drought-affected communities. It can fill its tank with purified water within three hours of operation and can supply water to 20 000 people a day. “This can be doubled if the filtration process is run 24 hours a day,” says Karl-Halla.

The Norit X-Flow filtration technology uses a 230 V power source, either the on-board diesel generator or a solar photovoltaic panel array on the roof of the truck, making the water purification process efficient and adaptable, says Karl-Halla.

The certified rejection of bacteria by the process is 99.9999%, certified rejection of viruses is 99.999% and certified rejection of all known pathogens in the water including bacteria, including E-coli, is 99.99%. The technology is also highly effective against cysts, giardia and cryptosporidium.

The truck has low maintenance requirements and can function completely without mainte-nance for three to seven years. The filtration membrane has a five-year life span.

“The feedback and responses from the military, emergency services and local governments in South Africa have been good and we aim to demonstrate the performance of the trucks by deploying them in water-stressed areas during the dry season. In dryer areas, the truck can pump, treat, store and transport the water from a distant water source to the area where it is needed,” says Karl-Halla.

The truck has been used in Peru, Romania, Angola, Benin, Sierra Leone, Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Pakistan, China and Haiti, besides other countries, she adds.

“The general feedback from military and local governments is that the truck makes it possible to provide water in remote locations and that the cost of purifying the water is low – about 30 c/ℓ and the truck can produce 3 000 ℓ/h,” she says.

“We can help solve some of the challenges during disasters and emergencies, as well as in water-stressed or drought-affected areas, by providing a method of purifying and transporting water from any water source to where it is needed,” concludes Karl-Halla.