What is the Solar ball?

          Technology doesn't always have to be expensive and complex to help people. The Hamster Ball-Shaped solarball is a water purifier invented and designed by a Monash University Graduate Student Jonathan Liow. He created the device to help people in poor countries that have no access to drinkable water sources. The solarball is actually a device that uses sunlight to evaporate dirty water, and then condense it on the recipient's walls, leaving the contaminants behind.

        900 million people in the world are in need of clean water, and 2 million children die from causes mainly because of drinking contaminated water. The design is user-friendly and durable, with a weather-resistant construction, making it well suited to people in hot, wet, tropical climates with limited access to resources. But most importantly, the technology was created to be an affordable option for the 900 million people who don't have access to clean water.

        Products that clean contaminated water already exist, but the solarball is a device that filters water using sunlight which creates evaporation and condensation. It can bring access to purified water in many places that need it, and it's a very safe and easy device for kids to use.

          These models show how the Solarball uses the sunlight to filter water, and how the contaminated water becomes evaporated.The forst diagram shows how the sphere shape of the solarball lets in sunlight from all 360 degrees. It let's in sunlight but straps the heat. The seawater condensates and then floats to the top of the dome. This shows beads of water coming out from the top, and driping down the the gutter. The second diagram shows the basic steps on how to use the solarball. You first fill in the tank with the contaminated water, then there is evaporation, and condensation. After the clean water drains out and makes it purified enough for drinking. It also shows where in the solarball these steps happen.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwDLt6twj0P8ZGpjYnN3MmRzNzZFemtDTEtsODVjV1NQT0hV&authuser=0

About the Community, and Inventor

             According to the world heath organization, 1.6 billion deaths per year can be attributed to a lack of clean water and poor sanitation. Around the world there are disputes over water and water scarcity. The main problem is that there is a failure of basic water services for people, which can cause a large amount of health problems.


         While at the university he was attending, Jonathan H. Liow had the opportunity to visit Cambodia. When Jonathan arrived, he saw people “living in mud” and a heap or rice on a plastic sheet. The locals told him it was the way they preserved the rice. The people didn't have basic things to store food, or access to clean water. This is when he realised that he could have a future in the career of designing things like appropriate technologies to help people living in developing countries.

         The Form of the device is very unique, it purifies water very efficiently while being simple and inexpensive. The sphere shape was designed to capture light and heat from all 360 degrees, while also able to be carried easily. The compact form also ensures that heat is collected and stored within the capsule as quickly as possible.

          Liow got the opportunity to put his new found inspiration into practice for his 2010 honours project. He started looking for a design that would help people in developing nations. While the other students in his class were designing typical things like cars and musical instruments, he decided to find something that would help purify the developing nations often contaminated water supply. A friend of his who was a photographer had spent some time in Africa and had made him aware of the need for a cheap and reliable source of decontaminating the water supply in Combodia.
    

        
           The solarball can produce 3 L (.79 gallons) of water every day. This is enough drinking water for one person, although it isn't enough for an entire, or enough for all the times you might need fresh water. There are many purposes for water, such as gardening, laundry, washing up, etc. People living in a poor community such as Cambodia have many needs for clean water but dont have an appropratie technology to sustain themselves. The solarball is a great start in purifying the water in some cases. Although you would need a large amount for a whole village.

How to use the Solarball

                
               The solarball functions very simple and easily. It's a fully functional design that takes every little detail of the environment into consideration. The form, material choice, and the way it's constructed all have the same pupose: water purification. This design was created by the need to help people around the world who lack access to clean drinking water.

 This device uses the process of evaporation to purify water. It combines efficiency, and a certain design to create a compact personal unit. It has an opening and locking system to efficiently clean and change the water, this helps to keep the process simple and easy to use. It also has a gutter, to capture and release the contaminated particles from the original water poured in the solarball. Although its a very basic desighn, there are many small details such as the slight tilt of the Solarball which ensures that the water flows naturally into its' point of dispersion.
               
             The Solarball does this through collecting and storing heat, causing evaporation to occur - which in turn forms condensation on the roof of the ball - which is then collected as drinkable water. All aspects of user function have been taken into consideration: from the refill point (user inserts dirty water), to the dispersion point, to the opening/closing finger indentations and mechanism, to the user symbols, and also the ergonomic handling of the product. The product also takes into consideration communicating to people of different cultures. The colours and symbols used in the design of the Solarball are of neutral ground, and are easily understood by people from all backgrounds/cultures. 

                The Solarball is safe and practical, and is 100% sustainable. The materials used to build the device are all eco friendly and can be recycled. Also, it was designed to be able to survive daily exposure to harsh conditions like the heat from the sun and harsh climate. The materials were also chosen specifically because of food and water safety standards, and is designed for the environment and takes that into consideration.

About the Hamster Ball-Shaped Solarball

               Over 2 million children die from preventable causes because of contaminated water. The number of people dying from this is increasing because of rapid organization and population growth. Access to fresh water is one of the biggest issues in third world countries today. 1 in 8 people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water, causing nearly 80% of sicknesses and disease in developing regions. Overall, safe and accessible drinking water is one of the rarest sources on the planet.

              By using the heat rays which come from the sun, a Monash University Graduate designed a simple and affordable water purification device. He has developed a device which may be able to change the number of children dying from contaminated water.This Hamster ball shaped solarball is essentially a water purifier.It's a very clever disighn for a portable and easy to use filter that looks just like a modifies hamster ball. 

             The solarball can produce up to 3 Liters of clean drinking water every day provided there is a large amount of sunlight which is usually available in most underdeveloped countries. this amount of water is enough for 1 adult. The solarball was designed to help people in areas that lack clean drinking water.It uses the form of evaporation to purify the water, the solarball is a functional and efficient way to help communities in need of the fresh water.


            Although, the design does have a few problems. The size of the solarball, although extremely portable, does not generate enough water for a whole family, let alone a village, or enough for all the basic needs for water in your daily life if they are relying on the solarball for their only source of clean water. Another factor is that the Solarball would need to be made of a plastic which can be out in the sun, and not become weakened so easily. It's not completely suitable to solve the water problem of an entire village.

           In the school of Jonathan Liow, Monash University said " The shperical unit absorbs sunlight and causes dirty water to evaporate. As evaporation occurs, contaminents are seperated from the water, generating drinkable condensation. Then the condensation is collected and stores, ready for drinking.