MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) — If you listen to inventor Dean Kamen, the biggest health problem facing the world today is not AIDS, obesity or malnutrition. It’s a shortage of water. Water is the most abundant resource on the planet, yet less than one percent of the Earth’s freshwater supply is readily available to drink, according to the World Health Organization. Lack of accessible or clean drinking water, exacerbated by drought, is crippling communities in many developing countries.
“In your lifetime, my lifetime, we will see water be a really scarce, valuable commodity,” Kamen says.
Those are scary words from the man whose creations include the Segway personal motorized scooter and the Luke (as in Skywalker) prosthetic arm. But the forward-thinking inventor and his team at DEKA Research in Manchester, New Hampshire, aren’t sitting around waiting for the world’s wells to dry up.
They’ve been working on an invention they say can tap into 97 percent of the world’s undrinkable water.
It’s called the Slingshot, and it’s a portable, low energy machine that is designed to purify water in remote villages where there’s not a Wal-Mart in sight. The device takes its name from a well-known story. Perhaps you’ve heard about the Slingshot, which Kamen has been working on for more than 10 years. Over that time it has turned dirty river water, ocean water and even raw sewage into pure drinking water. Kamen says it can turn anything that looks wet, or has water in it, into the “stuff of life.”
A bit more practical than the Segway with an added bonus… no fluorides. I just hope they can keep it affordable.
so we Process the water into Inert materials.
FUN..NOTHING in it..
No minerals, or flavor water, that has NOTHING to give the body..
Might as well run a Solar distillation plant.
It beats dying from illness due to drinking scumbag water.
CHEAP??
I could use a Canopy and a OLD Sat dish to biol out the water and get the SAME results CHEAPER.
#2, HH..
But you still die of malnutrition.. And water IS SUPPOSED to have the MINOR minerals we need.
This has NOTHING in it..
Wha?
Boiling, distilling and vaporizing dirty water into clean water does not an invention make…
Michael Pritchars’s water filter turns filthy water drinkable. TED.com
As a water/wastewater engineer I have to say,”So what?” There are many solutions out there that produce water in much the same way. If he’s turning saltwater into drinkable water, he’s either boiling or using Reverse Osmosis. Both of those technologies exist.
The reason why there will be water shortages isn’t because we’re taking showers, it’s because of agriculture, industry, and mining. The average American directly uses about 75 gallons per day. When the rest is added, the average American indirectly uses almost 600 gpd.
This product does nothing to produce non-direct use water to better the poors’ lives. Plus, what do you do with the process sludge left over from his process? It’s pretty nasty stuff that has been concentrated greatly. Dump it out the back door into the pig pen?
#7 As a former operator and manager of both water and wastewater treatment facilities for both industry and municipalities may I say ditto and amen. May I also add that failing infrastructure and the below cost pricing per actual production costs, have put the industry in such a position that the US and many other countries are on a course back to third world status. We take for granted that we will have clean water from the tap, and our wastes are carried far away. Unfortunately I suspect it will only be when bodies start piling up from diseases that come back from history (cholera, typhus) that we will begin to react to the situation. The Bush/Obama stimulus package only covered about 9% of the estimated 390 billion dollar cost to rehabilitate and repair the water and wastewater infrastructure in the US, and didn’t even begin to cover the costs for things like roads, bridges, and levees.
#6 beat me to it 🙂
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pritchard_invents_a_water_filter.html
According to him, his filter will provide approx 6000 litres of sterile water and costs considerably less. One of his products provides 25000 litres (enough for family of 4 for three years) and works out at 0.5c per day.
The solution to pollution is dilution.
this story is working on creating the illusion that creating drinking water is some magical process..(that is costing them $200,000 -oh but the price could be brought down to $2000(!) with the right investors..)
-mmkay.
(if you don’t live in a desert, by an atmospheric water generator for $2k or one for the house @ 10k-for starters)
as others have noted, the biggest issue is the sludge created from filtering..(and maintain a supply filters/filter materials)
I have had a gmail alert for “water shortage” for some time..judging by the amount of mail i get everyday..a soon as next year, this will be THE crisis of the century..
`
a quick google search shows 7000+ news items in the last year alone.
-a lot of the shortages IMO, are direct result intentional polluting of the water supply.
also of note..there is *a lot* of data indicating that we are going to experience a major global raising of water tables *very* soon.
this would result in the inflow of saltwater contaminating freshwater wells and aquifers.
scientist have recently noted well water rising a few milimeters after major earthquakes.
in the last few months, here in NYC we had a semi-temporary water level rise of two feet(!) -a block from where I live we have a small cement/rock that now gets completely covered at high tide, whereas before it always had at least a foot clearance..
—-
If i could, i’d move at least 300ft above sea level based on my own research on what is going on with sun and tectonic plate shifts that (are and) will occur due to where our solar system is and the huge rise magnetic forces it experiencing from the large celestial bodies we are approaching. (and those that are swinging through the solar system.
(i learned why they stopped sharing the NEO satellite data back in june)
One need only look at the past eight months of earthquake activity of >4.0 magnitude in the pacific “rim of fire” to see it’s effects.
If you have the money, invest a few grand in a water generator before major price gouging (or a lack of materials to make them) moves them out of reach. -or learn how to make your own.
on the short term, buy 10 or 20 ounces of pure 99.99% silver and learn how to use it to sterilize “brackish” water.
the Russian used it to sterilize the water on the MIR space station and sold the process to NASA. -which is now in use on the ISS space station
space.
(and a Japanese scientist on the ISS just wore a pair of silver impregnated underwear for a month and still smelled “fresh and clean” at the end of the experiment ::whew::
-good stuff that silver)
-a solar panel and a pair 12 or 14 gauge wires is all you need to have a completely independent method to sterilize a few liters of water in less than 15 minutes.
(Note: sadly, this process does not in any way remove any chemical contamination.)
“HEY, don’t look over here!”
-s
Why not just build a dirt cheap still. Local fuel
like wood could power it.
Less then a hair dryer energy for consumption?
That’s actually quite a bit of AC current.
A lot of poor people in this world have no
electricity.
As for just filtering water, the smallest of viruses
can get through amazingly small filer pores.
The Segway sucks and is a failure…..this douche just wants your money…..his fanboys think of him like Mac fans think of Jobs…..ooo it is a MP3 player that can play videos…swoon pant pant…..look up Archos from the 90’s
10…
NO..WRONG..
you dilute over and over and OVER, and eventually, it BUILD UP some place..
Think of a DAM, and the water that USED to flow and carry silt out to sea..
IT BUILDS UP someplace…Even the little bits come to 1 HEAP…
12.
3 micron is the smallest you need.
Distillation works wonders..
BUT STILL, you dont have the minerals that water is SUPPOSED to supply.
More silicon snake oil coming from Dean Kaman. Remember all the hype about the Segway becoming the new mode of transportation, will solve the world’s energy problems and bla bla bla bla bla and on and on now he’s going to heal the world of AIDS with clean water. Actually, there is something to be said about that, as without clean water the body cannot flush out waste, and that is the foundation of healing, but at what cost? The idea that his invention is miraculous or new is just plain crap. Distillation is a process that has been used for thousands of years. They can do this with sticks and matches, or for that matter flints and stones found anywhere, boiling the water in pots, without becoming dependent on electricity. And where are they going to get this electric for a mere $.50 a day? ROFL, these cultures live on $.50 a YEAR for food! What will he propose? Governments subsidize wind farms to produce electricity for them at a cost of $2 billion? And $2,000 per unit OMG what a fucking scam. Boycott any and every product from this HUCKSTER.
ECA,
Doesn’t matter how many times you say it, we do not get our “minor minerals” from water.
Steam distilled water may not taste the way you are used to, but it perfectly and totally healthy and provides everything the body needs.
It is the ONLY method of completely removing pollutants, bacteria, and viruses.
We get our nutrients (including minerals — even the “minor” ones (?!?)) from….. food!
You just discovered this problem? I hope it works. Cleaning up water is fairly simple but first you have to have water to clean and it’s rarely cheap.
You mean Segway Human Transportery water?
11,
Watch the central USA..REALLY.
Its the flood plain of the USA.. 10′ rise will submerge about 1/2 of it..
16, JJ.
we get Much of our minerals from food, but not the minor ones(anymore). NOT in the USA anyway.
Water has most of the minor minerals it collects them passing threw the Minerals and rock that CLEAN it.
WE NEED A DECENT STUDY ON Which is better to LIVE ON..
17,
Create a giant solar still.. NOT hard, alittle expensive, but NOT much to fix or repair..
Just like don said, Michael Pritchard has a far better invention. Why doesn’t everyone get behind him?
This device will be of the most use in developing countries. Yes there’s waste product. There’s already a waste product and it’s mixed into the drinking water. This will be a huge improvement even if it’s not perfect. If they can bring the cost down to where villages can buy them, or charities can buy them, it will prevent a lot of disease and death.
PuR has water purification tablets that when dropped into a large drum, and stirred, will coagulate the impurities into clumps. So then pour the whole lot though a simple filter like cheese cloth, and you get clean drinkable water.
That’s one damn idiotic idea for a water cleansing machine.
Natural filters of sand and limestone do the same thing and cost practically nothing. There are many products and “how to” on the market already. Crushed limestone alone will produce water that is more than 99.99 per cent free of many forms of bacterial contamination. Add other natural filters like charcoal or minerals specific to chemical removal as needed…. or you can build a 1-2 gph solar powered distiller for about $20.
Why is it we can see the logic, and this person wants to make $2000
Re: references to Michael Pritchard… he’s just anther opportunist ready to take your dollars. His water bottle invention is has already been done and done and done.
http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/porwatfil.html
Future wars will be fought over water supplies.
We are already seeing countries arguing over water sources, even US states in conflict over water usage.
Its coming. Dean Kamen may have saved us from endless wars over vital resources.