Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Invention for Saving Wash Water

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 1 2005 (IPS) - A mechanism for re-using nearly all of the water utilized in the clothes washing machine reduces water consumption of 6,000 liters to just 15, and is very inexpensive, the president of Brazil's National Association of Inventors, Carlos Mazzei, told Tierramérica. The system, known as Safira, filters and stores the water used by the washing machine. At a cost equivalent to three months of savings for household potable water services, it is likely to be incorporated into future machine designs, Mazzei predicts.

Safira, whose inventor is washing machine repairman Rubens de Oliveira Filho, stands out among 600 inventions exhibited at the association's Museum of Inventions, founded in 1992 to foment innovation and help their introduction into the market.

Another invention with positive environmental impact is the “rotating mat” for cleaning up rivers by withdrawing solid waste from its waters