"...every day 5000 children die as a result of diarrhea caused by drinking unsafe water..." UNICEF

As for the tech side, the inventor tested plastic materials for years before arriving at a UV resistant Poly Carbonate product that can stand up to years of daily use. And, when it decayed for solar purification, it can be used for other things.

There were design challenges that aren't necessarily obviously at first blush. It turns out that one challenge is the contamination of water after it is purified amid disasters and many areas without good sanitation. The physical structure of the Watercone and its cork reduce (tremendously) the possibility that dirty hands will contaminate the water.

The Watercone is a real path toward reducing those diarrhea deaths and a case where someone truly Designed Something Like They Gave a Damn.

Comments (11)

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wow
written by Cecilia , August 13, 2007

This is phenomenal! I hope this receives the financial backing it deserves.

Cool - but will it actually work?
written by Strange-but-True , August 13, 2007

It's a really cool idea, but is there going to be enough water in the desert to actually make these things work? I suppose you get a bit of dew in the morning, but 1.6 litres?

Having said that, providing a cheap and effective way of desalinated water is one of our biggest challenges, as soon as we can do that the possibilities are endless...

RE 'will it work ...'
written by a. siegel , August 13, 2007

Strange-but-true ...

Well, for example, people using it include people in very low water areas who live on the coastline. They are desalinating sea water for drinking water. And, the tea example comes from a real case where the fisherman are fishing longer since they can make water for tea while at sea.

And, well, pure desert, without sea water, opportunities are limited. But, if necessary, this product can make (some) drinkable water from urine (as I understand it). A variation on Dune?

What about the waste?
written by Edward , August 13, 2007

From my understanding, one of the most significant reasons desalinization is not in more common use is the fact that it produces either brine or solid waste that can be hard to dispose of at best and just plain toxic at worst.

I guess my question about this item is: Once you remove the clean water, what do you do with the waste that remains in the container? And moreover, how would one get the waste out of the container, especially if water is scarce?

Time for Urine
written by Jenna B , August 14, 2007

Would one be able to one's own urine using this?

There is no waste as such.
written by rob , August 14, 2007

We were taught how to do this in the forces.
Just dig a hole, place a container in the middle and put a plastic sheet over the hole.
Weigh down the edges of the plastic sheet with sand/stones and put a small pebble in the center of the sheet.
Evaporating moisture condenses on the plastic and runs down to the pebble and drips into the container.
You can "charge" the hole with sea water, urine, crushed cacti, anything with moisture in it.
Next day you just dig a new hole and move it.

Note, the water is pure enough to drink, but in my experience often tasted pretty bad. But it's better than dying of thirst.

Desalinisation
written by Hun Boon , August 14, 2007

Hi, this gadget is for desalinisation i.e. to remove salt (and other contaminants) from the water. So it's not intended for use in arid areas like deserts.

Rob's method makes more sense because the water collects automatically in the container. For the watercone, you need to invert it to pour out the condensation.

Doesn't sound terribly effective to be honest.. Hope they come up with a version 2.0.

really?
written by Steve , August 14, 2007

I don't know if this is the way to go. But who am I to say? If it works, it works. . .



_______________
http://www.GeekEnough.com

How to get the waste out of the containe
written by hello , August 16, 2007

answer:
it is a cone, there is no bottom on the container. the lower lip of the cone collect the water. picture it like a cone, then fold the bottom edges up.

you may have some salt laying on the ground after your done

reversing the position
written by nowey , September 04, 2007

Using plastic instead of glass would be unsafe for human, specially in 24/7 use. This can be very effective in daytime but if you could reverse the position in the evening you can collect the dew in the morning.

what to do with the extracted salt?
written by gloria Allen , November 27, 2007

The salt can be used in places like Africa,where salt is very much needed and in scarce supply.

I'm all for something that desalinates seawater, because freshwater is extremely scarce - only 1% left in the world according to Popular Science article, "Engineering a Better Earth."

This project needs a rich backer who is environmentally conscious like say Virgin Records and airlines founder Richard Branson.

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