SODIS METHOD

SODIS METHOD

Water can be disinfected and in this way made drinkable using the rays of the sun. "Solar water disinfection" - SODIS for short - thus offers a solution for preventing diarrhoea, one of the most common causes of death among people in developing countries.

Clean drinking water in 6 hours

The SODIS method is ideal for treating water for drinking in developing countries. All it requires is sunlight and PET bottles. How does it work? Clear PET bottles are filled with the water and set out in the sun for 6 hours. The UV-A rays in sunlight kill germs such as viruses, bacteria and parasites (giardia and cryptosporidia). The method also works when air and water temperatures are low.

People can use the SODIS method to treat their drinking water themselves. The method is very simple and its application is safe. It is particularly suitable for treating relatively small quantities of drinking water.

Research

Many scientific studies confirmed the effectiveness of the SODIS method. It kills germs in water very efficiently. The method has even been shown to improve the health of the population. Research into training strategies gave insight about which communication methods are most suitable. It has also been proven that the use of PET bottles in the SODIS method is harmless.

International recognition

The World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, and the Red Cross therefore recommend the SODIS method as a way to treat drinking water in developing countries.

“Solar disinfection is an example of another measure with proven health impact that requires little capital investment on the part of end-users, and is thus appropriate for the very poor.” WHO, 2007

“UNICEF promotes a variety of treatment methods such as user-friendly filtration, simple solar water disinfection (SODIS) and home chlorination. These are all low-cost, effective and manageable at the household level.” UNICEF, 2009

Red Cross Prize, 2006: "The jury considers SODIS an impressive way of contributing by the simplest means to making water supplies better and safer, thereby reducing diarrhoea and other diseases like it, and mortality in developing countries." Red Cross, 2006