Destilador de agua solar: alternativa para potabilizar agua en zonas rurales. Determinación de costos

Abstract

The solar water distiller allows the supply of drinking water in the clean energy use context. The environmental economic impact of the drinking water scarcity in rural regions is important to evaluate the effect of the implementation of a solar water distiller. To perform this evaluation, the sickness cost methodology was used to determinate the environmental cost of the lack of drinking water in the Quebrada de Ramos community in Trujillo Estate. In order to estimate the distilled water cost with solar energy, a laboratory-scaled solar water distiller was built with a captation area of 0,15 m2. The solar distiller had a production of 0,112 m3/year in the rainy season and 0,369 m3/year in the dry season. The cost per liter of distilled water obtained from this system, at the built scale, oscillated between 13,131 Bs./dayxperson and 43,258 Bs./diaxperson. The sickness environmental cost calculated for the seleccionated community was 189,694 Bs/dayxperson. This value represents a cost that must be assumed when no drinking water is available, with the consequent and progressive decrease of the people life quality living in rural areas. In this way, the solar water distiller is a feasible alternative of proper technology in the harmonic relationship of man with nature.