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Aquaduct Bike Purifies Water As You Pedal
Mike writes "Winner of the '08 Innovate or Die competition sponsored by Google and Specialized, the Aquaduct is a pedal-powered concept vehicle that transports, filters, and stores water. The design has massive implications for communities where safe and secure sources of drinking water are not readily accessible."
Dude, totally recycle-able beer, what an idea!
Somebody mod parent up please.
In my other life, I eat cats.
There are places in the world where people walk for miles so they can carry back heavy vessels of water, which may or may not be contaminated. The roads aren't likely to be much more than cart paths in many places. This aims at looking at that problem from end to end -- it carries the water, filters it for you, and is your round-trip conveyance.
This sounds like, while it's not a finished product, it's a hell of a good idea and a good start.
When you have a better solution that doesn't have as many limitations, get back to us.
I say kudos to the company developing this, and good on 'em for trying to work on this problem.
Cheers
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
It seems nice and all, but the lifestraw [bbc.co.uk] is a much more elegant solution to the problem.
Which problem are you referring to? The problem of needing a drink from polluted water, or the problem of getting water to the residence? From what I read, the aquaduct bike handles not only filtration but transportation of a large amount of water (the water said a family of four needed 20 gallons a day, but they did not specify if that was the capacity of the bike's tank).On the other hand, we have a direct quote from the page you linked:
The LifeStraw isn't going to prevent the long journey, even if it does improve the water they drink"
Paul Hetherington, WaterAid
In addition, the lifestraw does not filter cooking water, so the aquaduct bike will also cut down on your gathering or purchase of fuel for fires (wood or gas).
The lifestraw, while being a useful tool, is hardly a "more elegant" solution then the aquaduct bike.
It will have "massive implications"? Yeah right. This is likely to cost quite a bit, and it is going to be far cheaper to have other systems, from boiling the water, to stationary filters, to sterilizing and sealing a well. From what I have seen in Laos (a developing country), the urban population buys bottled water, and the rural population either does nothing, boils water, or the village pitches in to install a sealed well with a hand pump. The later costs on the order of $100-$150 start to finish. Or I suppose you could buy a bicycle to filter water.
However, I must note that the people developing this did not claim "massive implications". Here is a quote from the article:
In its present configuration it is not a feasible solution for most developing communities due to production costs and durability. But in fairness to the IDEO team, they have stated that, "In its current state, the Aquaduct is a prototype aimed squarely at demonstrating a concept and raising awareness around the issues of clean water in developing countries. The Aquaduct team plans to continue the concept's development into an economically and technologically viable solution that addresses challenges such as cost, suitable purification technologies, and the logistics of addressing an issue that [affects] billions."
See issue 14 of Make:
"come up with something that will take my beer pee and filter it"
Actually, if you forgo the filter and just bottle the pee, the result is virtually indistinguishable from American lager...
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!