We decided to address the issue of access to clean water in Cape York and to use a solar still to do this. This would work by using heat from the sun to evaporate water help in a basin (removing contaminants), which would then run down into a storage tank. After further research, it was decided that to be sure that the water would be safe to drink a sand filter would be used to filter the water before it entered the basin (to ensure any bacteria present was removed) and it was passed through a charcoal filter after the solar still to remove any harmful chemicals in the water.
A plan was created of how to implement the project was created, consisting of an initial stage of building, and testing three prototype stills, building, and distributing a limited number (30) stills and the full-scale production and distribution across Cape York. It was estimated that the first stage would take 3 months, the second stage 6 months and the third stage 3 years.
The project would employ local people in an area with high unemployment, and many of the materials used would be recyclable. The project would be run by a not-for-profit organisation, with funding from donors and/or the government.
We were actually asked this during a pitching section, we initially didn't really have a good answer, but it can be used in the rainy season as a collection basin. It does not need to function as normal. I hope this makes sense!
Looks simple and easy actually, but if it's based on "solar" energy, how would it be used in the rainy season when its cloudy and there's no sun?