This simple technology was developed at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab at Berkley and tested at environmental engineering labs on campus. A germicidal bulb - which is just like a regular fluorescent light minus the white phosphor coating around the inside and constructed with quartz instead of glass - is attached to the inside of a PVC pipe. Water passing through the pipe and under the germicidal bulb is dosed with twice as much UV radiation as most national and international standards require. The DNA of pathogens is severely damaged by the ultraviolet radiation, resulting in clean water with no disinfection byproducts or unpleasant taste.  The technology has been around for a long time, Reygadas explains.

But for the last few years, Berkeley researchers have been working on prototypes intended for developing countries. They must be easy to use, inexpensive, effective, and constructed with locally available materials. The most thoroughly tested prototype to emerge, dubbed the "UV Tube," will be the focus of this summer's field research. The team will give families their own units, but Reygadas believes that employees of Baja hardware and supply stores may eventually assemble and sell the devices on their own. Reygadas estimates that one tube will cost around $40, or about the price of one goat. He insists the technology be kept "open source," free for everyone to use as long as they give the researchers feedback.

Lastly.... people should be able to dance wherever they want to in New York City, so long as the proprietor of the establishment allows it, not as dictated by the Mayor.

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