Wyckomar | Water Purification Products - The Water Blog

The Solar-Tote

Posted on April 5, 2016

Maybe More Useful Than You Can Possibly Imagine...

Wyckomar announces the launch of the Solar-Tote, a complete and portable solar-powered machine that can also be your emergency preparedness system for off-grid living.

Our original purpose in developing the Solar-Tote was to provide users with a handy, portable system that uses solar energy to produce clean, bacteria-free drinking water. As the product development process went on we realized that we were really creating not only a limited-use product for water purification from local water sources such as lakes, streams and ponds, but a complete system for backup power if and when you need it.

Lets' start with the water purification part of the Solar-Tote. This system uses solar energy to power an on-board water pump and an on-board UV disinfection and filtration system. The Wyckomar SYS-250 UV disinfection system is the heart of the Solar-Tote because the UV-250 is perfectly suited both in terms of size and capacity to process (in real time) as much as 2.5 gallons per minute (or 10 litres per minute) which will fill all of your clean water needs in a very short time.

As part of the Solar-Tote, the SYS-250 unit offers two levels of deep filtration removing sediments and dirt from the source water that you wish to purify. The second filter will remove foul taste and odour along with chemical contaminants such as pesticides and solvents. Finally, the water receives a high intensity dose of UV light which kills all pathogens in the water such as E. coli, Coliform, Legionella pneumophila, Cryptosporidium, Hepatitis, Giardia lamblia (beaver fever), and dozens more (see UV Inactivation Chart).

UV light is a proven technology to purify drinking water against a wide range of bacterial, viral and cyst contaminants and UV does not involve the use of any chemicals such as chlorine.

The full versatility of the Solar-Tote can only be realized when you consider the other applications this system may be used for. Besides the function of pumping and purifying drinking water, the Solar-Tote is essentially a power station for your personal use. The on-board 12V battery is charged-up by the pair of solar panels included with the Tote. The battery then supplies the electrical power needed to run the water treatment equipment in the Tote and it can also be used to power a lot of other useful things such as cell phones, work-lights and radios. There is an active online market where one can purchase a wide range of 12V appliances such as coffee makers and the like. By using an optional inverter, the Solar-Tote may also be used to power 110V or 220V appliances such as TV's and computers.

Perhaps now you can understand just how useful it will be to have a Solar-Tote on hand at your home and at your business. The Tote may be stored away for emergency use or you can use it everyday to provide power for off-grid recreation including cottaging and camping.

The Solar-Tote will be of particular value to relief agencies and NGO's operating in parts of the world without reliable electrical power and without clean sources of drinking water. The Tote is constructed using a high-quality protective contractor-grade case and it can easily be moved and setup within minutes. There is no special training needed to operate the Tote - just connect the solar panels and it's ready to go.

There is a short video on youtube that shows the system in operation outdoors.

The brochure for the Solar-Tote is here