Water is always on my mind as I am pedalling under the scorching heat of Northern Africa. I would usually have to buy a bottle of water, search for a drinking tap, or ask someone if I am to the last drop of water I have on me. Along the villages outside of cities, they use clay pots to house water and this pots line the streets with intervals, free for anyone and everyone to drink from it.

These pots are known as Zeer in Arabic or the pot-in-pot refrigerator that are used by locals to keep food and water cool by using the natural evaporative cooling process. The pots cool the water in them in with a basic Science – evaporation. Like any earthenware, a clay pot is porous in nature. So, when water is poured into, the inner walls absorb some amount of water and moisten the outer surface. This moisture evaporates, using up the inner heat energy of the earthen pots, consequently bringing down the overall temperate by 14 to 15 degrees after a few hours. This works as long as the pores on the pots are not blocked.

This evaporative cooling technique was used as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt, around 2500 B.C. Many earthenware pots were discovered in Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BC which were probably used for storing as well as cooling water similar to present days ghara used in southern plain of Nepal, Madhesh.

In Egypt, Nepal and I am sure I will see more in other African countries, clay pots are an extremely cheap, fussy free and most importantly, green way to have chilled water that is not too hot or too cold.

Scientists and students alike are trying to come up with new methods to make this save for human consumption without the interference of pathogens and bacteria that makes people sick. Recently three medical students from Canada came up with a solution that can do so by mixing some elements found in kiln making a water-permeable filter. So when water is poured from the top, it seeps out through a composition onto the other section making the water safe for consumption. Pots are now made with a head small enough that even a young child’s hands cannot fit through to prevent contaminations.

Clay pots are a really ideal solution for a country where majority of the population are not very well-off and electricity is not always constant. Additionally, considering the blistering heat’s daily tortures where chilled water is always a blessing, clay pots are the best solution. People do not have to worry about the thefts of the pots like they would for a refrigerator because they are very, very affordable nor do they have to worry about electricity bills. Clay pots are an extremely effective and easy way to save the environment.