Tulip Siphon Filter
The Tulip Siphon Filter is a high quality, low cost unit home water treatment system (HWT), which was developed to serve the needs of the many without access to clean water. It is innovative and less expensive than existing options, making it an ideal unit for a Household Point of Use System in developing nations. The filter is also highly suitable as a system for water purification in emergency situations.
Currently the filter is being used in Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Suriname and The Philippines, and consists of a colloidal silver impregnated ceramic element that is placed in an elevated container. The unit has a small tube with a bulb, that when squeezed creates a vacuum causing water to be sucked into it. For water flow the tube end is at a lower level and gravity does the rest.
The filter has been tested extensively both in the field and laboratories and is highly effective in removing 99.9% of the bacteria and parasites known to cause water borne disease. It has a flow rate of 4 to 5 liters per hour and will filter 7000 liters before the filter element needs to be replaced.
The Tulip filter is durable and user friendly. It has a built in backwash system making it easy to clean and maintain, requiring only a light scrubbing when filter flow is significantly reduced. It is a low cost, high quality unit, lightweight, easy to transport, making it an appropriate product in areas of high need.
Using a new filter element.
• Let the filter element stay in water over night
• Do not use the first 15 liters of filtered water because it may have a ceramic taste!
• Open the tap and squeeze the bulb
• Wait until the bulb slowly fills with water and filtered water starts to flow
• When the filter element is dry this has to be repeated a few times
