Google Innovate or Die Contest

News Room | Feb 5th, 2008 |

This is a really cool idea! They won the Google contest for innovation.

In the above video, the winning team explains that the bicycle “consists of a storage tank, filter, peristaltic pump, clean tank and clutch.” Learn how it works after the fold.The team based their design on the fact that “a family of four needs around 20 gallons of water a day to meet basic needs - drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning.” So here’s how it works: the person collecting the water rides the bicycle over to the water source, and fills up the 20 gallon tank. As the person pedals back home, “the peristaltic pump draws the water from the storage tank, through a filter to a 2 gallon clean tank. That tank can be removed and taken indoors. When more water is needed, the tank is replaced, the clutch engaged and the person then peddles while remaining stationary.”In this case, the Aquaduct is meeting one of the most basic needs of all: clean drinking water. As the video explains, “over 1.1 billion people don’t have access to clean water and in excess of 5,000 children die each day due to water related diseases.” Meaning that if they find a way to mass-produce their invention in a cost-effective manner, the Aquaduct can add to the plethora of ideas and inventions seeking to solve extreme poverty, disease and famine.