I want to print plastic bottles for safe drinking water for kids in Africa.

3D Printing
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1

I want to print plastic bottles for safe drinking water for kids in Africa. Can any one give me an idea what type of 3D printer to buy? Any comment or assistance is much appreciated
Negasa

2

3D printing is a poor choice for this application. Using a stretch blow mould is more cost effective and MUCH faster with less chance of leaky bottles.

Stretch blow moulds use thick plastic discs (in single-stage) or injection moulded tubes (in two-stage) that get heated up, then a careful blast of hot air pushes the disc into a preform giving it its final shape.

I think you can find single-bottle preforms and blowers with a similar footprint to 3D printers. Although the startup cost might be slightly higher, the per-unit cost is significantly lower.

3

more info here: http://www.smfgmbh.com/en/offer/pet-blowers

and also here http://www2.berryplastics.com/technology/processes/injection-stretch-blow-molding/

4

Also, the porous nature of FDM makes printed items not food safe, as they are a haven for bacteria and fungi.

5

Honestly, if you want to bring something like this to these areas, I would avoid bringing them things that they can’t reproduce on their own. Try and find local ways to accomplish the same changes, that way they can be reproduced readily and not be reliant on external sources.

It’s a great goal to solve these problems, very admirable, but if it’s not sustainable is it really helping them?

I think teaching how to make ceramics and glasses might be more appropriate since the locals would have the resources necessary to continue producing them themselves, then just bring along the education on how to properly pasteurize their water and sanitize the ceramics between uses.

6

Thank you very much. Where I went they use clay pots. They are more fragile and more difficult to be carried by school kids. And thank you
Again for the Link

Sent from my iPhone

7

Well, hide pouches are an option for water handling that’s available to most areas of the world that raise animals for meat and milk.

The problem with plastics and metals is what happens after you leave? They can’t replace the plastics or mine the metals effectively, unless you intend to teach them how to turn vegetable fats into PLA and hope they can continue to form it into bottles after you leave. An unlikely proposition, right?