Can colloidal silver help solve contaminated drinking water problems in developing countries? Until the standards of living in these remote areas of developing nations can be raised and new infrastructure built?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), contaminated drinking water is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths, worldwide. “Every year more than five million human beings die from illnesses linked to unsafe drinking water, unclean domestic environments and improper excreta disposal,” says WHO.

In fact, over 2 million deaths occur each year from water-related diarrhea alone, caused by pathogen contamination in the drinking water.

Almost half of the people in developing countries suffer from water-related diseases – google image 

Indeed, at any given time, almost half of the people in developing countries suffer from water-related diseases, according to WHO.

Can colloidal silver help solve contaminated drinking water problems in developing countries? Until the standards of living in these remote areas of developing nations can be raised and new infrastructure built?

The answer to the above question is a resounding yes.

1.Colloidal silver could easily be used to dramatically reduce the deaths caused by pathogen-contaminated drinking water.

The use of colloidal silver as a means of ridding drinking water of bacterial, viral and fungal contaminants is not a new idea by any means.

For example, in Mexico, where local water supplies are not always safe in rural areas, a colloidal silver product called Microdyn has been used for decades to help keep residents safe from contaminated drinking water.

According to The Silver Institute, a group that reports on the many uses of silver worldwide:

“Since 1955, with the approval of the Ministry of Health of Mexico, Microdyn, a silver colloid, with a particle size of about 2 manometers, has been used to provide healthful water for its citizens.

‘A few drops of Microdyn available in small bottles provides sufficient silver to disinfect clear drinking water in about 10 minutes,’ states Luis Arizcorreta Buchholz, president of Roland de Mexico, S.A, de C.V, Mexico D.E, Mexico.

‘It’s a convenient disinfectant for individual use in areas wherever tap water is suspect.

Microdyn has also found wide popularity in Mexico as a rinse to disinfect fruit and vegetables. It is also active against spores and parasites.’

Microdyn is also made available in a soluble carrier which is painted on the interior of cisterns for the long-term disinfection of drinking water.

Its use is credited with a dramatic improvement in the health of the residents of the town of Cruz Azul, Lagunas, Oaxaca, Mexico, who for years had suffered rampant gastroenteritis.

The introduction of a Microdyn coating to the town’s water supply cisterns in 1977 made the difference. Other local water supply systems treated with Microdyn achieved similar results.

A study by Microbiological Research & Development Inc. of Tucson, Arizona, proved the relative power of Microdyn against that of chlorine.

At the 0.025 milligram per liter (mg/liter) level of Microdyn silver (the United States Environmental Protection Agency suggested limit for silver in drinking water is 0. 100 mg/liter]…

…water charged with 2,700 units per liter of the fecal conform Echerichia coli (E.Coli) bacterium was completely sterilized in less than three hours, whereas the chlorine to sterilize the same charge of bacterium over the same period of time required 40 times greater concentration.

In another test, water charged with 100 times that amount of fecal coliform required 8 times the normal concentration of Microdyn for complete sterilization, whereas 10 times the concentration of chlorine was required.

In every case, the disinfectant power of Microdyn was greater than that of chlorine. Silver’s antibacterial power is so strong that Microdyn contains only 3,575 parts per billion of silver per liter, or less than 2 milligrams silver per liter-sized bottle.”

What’s more, back in 2001 a water purification company called NVID International of Clearwater, FL tested colloidal silver in drinking water in the Mexican city of Celaya, and found that it was astonishingly effective in reducing coliform bacterial counts in the water.

Again, according to The Silver Institute:

The test commenced on March 8 under the auspices of the City of Celaya, and the state branches of Commission National de Aug (CNA) and Salute de Ambiental (Mexican EPA).

“NVID International, Inc. of Clearwater, Florida, announced the successful completion of testing of a municipal drinking water system utilizing ionic silver, in the city of Celaya, Mexico.

The test was designed to test a three-block section of the distribution-piping grid for this city of 350,000 residents.

The Company’s Ionic Disinfection System was installed on one of the 65 wells serving the city’s residents and the system injected 10 parts per billion of ionic silver into the distribution grid.

Within 24 hours of installing the system, the fecal coliform count was brought to zero and it remained at zero for the next eighteen days.

The system was then taken off-line and the fecal conforms returned within two days.

The system was reconnected to the distribution grid and again obtained zero fecal coliform within 24 hours and kept the count at zero for the next 45 consecutive days.<

NVID’s President, David Larson stated:

‘This test was very significant due to the low levels of ionic silver used in the disinfection.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended the allowable levels of silver present in drinking water be set at 100 ppb, and most of the Company’s systems are designed to inject ionic silver well below the limit, at a rate of 60 ppb.

Proving efficacy at only 10 ppb is significant in that cost comparisons with traditional disinfectants such as Chlorine become more favorable and the initial capital outlay for end users is greatly reduced.’”

Certainly, considering the above examples, colloidal silver could be used similarly in developing nations to save thousands upon thousands of lives annually.

2.Ceramic Water Filters Using Colloidal Silver

Make ceramic water filters infused with colloidal silver – google image 

Indeed, for years the group Potters for Peace have been showing villagers in remote areas of developing countries how to make ceramic water filters infused with colloidal silver to provide their villages with fresh, clean, and germ-free water.

And starting in 2006, U.S. troops have been helping Iraqi villagers use that same crude but highly effective technology to protect themselves from bacterially contaminated water. Here’s the story, from an official U.S. Army publication, The Ivy Leaf…

Pouring troubles away

Water filter provides factions reason to unite, combat water problems in region

Story and photo by

Spc. Edgar Reyes

2nd BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div.

As the scorching Iraqi sun blazed down on a little boy in a village, he cupped his hands together to drink water from a canal running through the middle of his town, unaware that 11,000 children like him die from water-borne diseases every day around the world who drink from similar canals.

As a way to resolve the local water problem and prevent tragedies such as this, leaders from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, requested the help of a college professor to teach local Iraqi potters how to make clay/sawdust ceramic filter pots capable of decimating 99.88% of water-borne disease agents.

Perhaps equally important in the endeavor is the ability to provide jobs for the local populace and present a reason for factions to unite for a common cause.

To accomplish this, Richard Wukich, a college ceramics professor who teaches at Slippery Rock University in Pittsburgh, volunteered to instruct two Iraqi potters how to make the ceramic filters during his free time between semesters. He traveled to Iraq and spent two weeks training his new charges.

Wukich began his class by teaching the apprentices how to make clay pots with a mixture of saw dust, which is uncommon in Iraqi culture.

The saw dust disappears during the clay baking process, creating several small holes that act as a filtering system inside the pot.

After crafting several pots, Wukich taught the trainees how to coat the pots with colloidal silver, an incredibly fine particle that kills bacteria and organisms and does not allow bacteria to grow into a culture inside the pot.

The pots are either painted with a brush or dipped into a container containing a colloidal silver and water mixture.

After the colloidal silver is completely absorbed into the pot, it is placed on the mouth of a 5-gallon receptacle container. The filter is then covered with a lid or a piece of fine cloth. Users pour water into the fine cloth to filter out extremely turbid water.

As the water enters the clay pot, the filters inside the clay leave small dirt particles behind and the colloidal silver destroys any bacteria in the water.

The clear and clean water then drips into the 5-gallon receptacle at a rate of 1-1.5 quarts-an-hour. “This project was originally initiated by Capt. Richard Nardo,” said Wukich.

“He is an environmental engineer who was activated by his Reserve unit to deploy to Iraq. He saw the need for a water filtration system and began researching on the internet until he found the clay filter technology “Potters for Peace” had learned to use from a doctor in Guatemala.”

Nardo contacted “Potters for Peace” and requested Wukich to help teach Iraqis how to build the filters as well as devise a business plan so the Iraqi people could begin mass manufacturing of the product and create jobs in the area.

Initial attempts to begin the project stalled in January 2004 before Wukich provided an article published in a renowned newspaper in the U.S., which contained statements from a commander in Iraq who had the same concerns regarding the conditions of the water supply.

In the article, Lt. Col. Patrick Donahoe, commander, 1-67 AR, stated the problems he was facing in Iraq were similar to the problems he faced when he deployed to Bosnia as a young officer, said Wukich.

People of different ethnicities and religions attempted to gain power in the country and, in doing so, they ripped the country apart and divided the people – eerily resembling the current situation in Iraq with Sunni and Shiite factions clashing.

In the article, he also mentioned the need to provide business opportunities benefiting both factions and reintegrating local politics with leadership.

Knowing the business possibilities of the ceramic filters, Wukich said he sent an email to Donahoe describing the water filter and the possible economic impact it could have in Donahoe’s area of operations.

After several conversations with Donahoe, Wukich was invited to Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah to begin the project.

“If it wasn’t for Lt. Col. Donahoe, this project would not be happening right now,” said Wukich. “I had several roadblocks with my previous attempts, but with his assistance, I’ve finally been able to start the project.”

“This project is going to do two things,” said Maj. James Ortoli, civil affairs team leader, 412th Civil Affairs Battalion.

“It’s going to put Iraqis to work and give them clean water. It is the most economically efficient way for Iraq to start making its people responsible for their own water.”

The big plan for the ceramic filters is to teach the apprentices how to make the filters so they can start selling them at affordable prices to the general public.

Once the idea of having a filter catches on with the Iraqi people, the apprentices could then hire workers to increase production in their area thereby creating jobs and improving their economy.

Having both sides work together to provide the country with clean water and boost the economy could be exactly what this country needs at this moment in time, said Ortoli.

3.Colloidal Silver Could Save Millions of Lives

Yes, colloidal silver is saving lives around the world. And it could be used to save millions more lives, if the technology were introduced into the poorer villages of more and more developing nations.

Government health authorities know this is true, because for years they’ve even used colloidal silver to purify water aboard the Space Shuttle.

And both NASA and the Russian space program have used colloidal silver on their manned space flights.

What’s more, in Europe, almost all ocean-going ships use colloidal silver to keep their onboard drinking water pure and safe from bacterial contamination.

According to Anders Sultan, one of Sweden’s top advocates of the use of silver as a disinfectant agent:

“…for many years there have been highly concentrated silver nitrate based products on the European market. These are for disinfecting the water kept in the fresh water tank in marine vessels.

Ever since the 1950s large ships have been equipped with silver-based water purification systems.

In fact, there are tens of thousands of large ships around the world that utilize this technology.

One of the pioneers and largest manufacturers of this technology is the Swedish company Jowa. You can see an excerpt from their product description at this web site link.

Jowa also have a water purification system that sterilizes the water through the use of silver ions, much like the ones your little colloidal silver generators produce.

This product, called Jowa AG-S, has made Sweden world-famous in the shipping industry. This sterilization method provides long-term protection and is a suitable method for long-term storage of drinking water.

Since its introduction in 1970, this unit has been installed in thousands of ships.

Incidentally, sterilizing water with the help of silver is an old and well-proven method that goes all the way back to antiquity. It is completely harmless to humans and animals and the silver ions do not change the taste or smell of the water.”

So silver’s use as a water disinfectant is well-known – so well-known, in fact, there’s truly no reasonable excuse for not utilizing this technology in more areas of the world.

Groups like Potters for Peace are doing so, by sending people into remote areas to teach villagers how to make and use the colloidal silver-impregnated ceramic water filters in order to protect themselves from contaminated drinking water.

And as you’ve read in the article excerpt above, this same technology is being utilized in areas like Iraq, by people basically copying the Potters for Peace method.

4.But more needs to be done

Kentary Colloidal silver

According to The Silver Institute, the use of silver as a disinfectant agent is indeed spreading, but mostly in commercial products used in domestic households:

“Silver is employed as a bactericide and algaecide in an ever increasing number of water purification systems in hospitals, remote communities and, more recently, domestic households.

Silver ions have been used to purify drinking water and swimming pool water for generations…

…An increasing trend is the millions of on-the-counter and under-the-counter water purifiers that are sold each year in the United States to rid drinking water of bacteria, chlorine, trihalomethanes, lead, particulates, and odor.

Here silver is used to prevent the buildup of bacteria and algae in the filters. Of the billions of dollars spent yearly in the U.S. for drinking water purification systems, over half make advantageous use of the bactericidal properties of silver.

New research has shown that the catalytic action of silver, in concert with oxygen, provides a powerful sanitizer, virtually eliminating the need for the use of corrosive chlorine.”

But expensive commercial products are not what villagers in remote areas of developing nations are in need of.

Can colloidal silver help solve contaminated drinking water problems in developing countries? They need simple colloidal silver-making technology, and education in how to use that technology for their maximum protection and benefit.

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