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."

Comments

I love the idea, but . . .

[arizwebfoot]

What about Beer?

Have they come up with something that will take my beer pee and filter it into water?

I live in Arizona and that would be a great thing to have in the desert.

--

Oh Well, Bad Karma and all . . .

Re:I love the idea, but . . .

[TinFoilMan]

Dude, totally recycle-able beer, what an idea!

Somebody mod parent up please.

Re:I love the idea, but . . .

[not already in use]

Umm, Bear Gryll's has assured me many times that it is OK to drink my pee, unfiltered.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Useless

[gstoddart]

What, like for small villages in the middle of nowhere without roads?

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.

But in fairness to the IDEO team, they have stated that, âoeIn 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 conceptâ(TM)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.â

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

Re:Interesting

[Emnar]

Some of the areas of the world with the worst water quality are very high-humidity, where you may sweat even if you're riding at 20 mph.

And as far as "not pushing yourself hard enough," in most of the world, a bicycle is primarily transportation, not exercise.

Re:Meh

[Bobfrankly1]

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.

Re:Interesting

[MaxwellEdison]

Great idea. We'll make evaporator farms. We can also use these remote places to allow young people the time to safely grow up into universe changing Jedi. Step 2) Womp Rats.