Innovations that Bring Clean Water to People Worldwide

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Innovations that Bring Clean Water to People Worldwide

These Brilliant Innovations Are Bringing Clean Water To People Worldwide

A little thinking outside the box can go a long way in helping bring clean H2O to those who need it most.

About89 percentof the globe had access to improved sources of drinking water in 2012 -- up significantly from 76 percent in 1990, according to a report released last year by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Although there's still significant progress to be had (roughly748 millionpeople still lack access, the United Nations notes), inventive thinking is in part to credit for helping more communities connect to the crucial resource.

In honor ofWorld Water Dayon Sunday, here are a few recent innovative solutions that have brought safe drinking water to more people around the globe.

Ad agency Mayo DraftFCB partnered with the University of Engineering and Technology of Peru in 2013 tocreate a billboardthat captured air humidity and turned it into potable drinking water. The innovation helped area residents make ends meet in a country that gets less thantwo inches of raina year, according to a video produced by the school.

The state of water insecurity led to many Peruvians having to rely on unsafe drinking water from polluted wells. But, according to one local resident, the billboard could serve as a viable problem-solver.

"They could put this in different places if possible in each village, in each town," Francisco Quilca told the university.

Functioning similarly toa coffee filter, pages in the book -- created by nonprofit WaterIsLife last year -- filters polluted and unsafe drinking water, and costs just pennies to produce.

Asthe video abovenotes, people in many underserved regions of the world don't realize contaminated water can be harmful to ingest. This Drinkable Book not only acts as a filtering system -- killing diseases like cholera and E. coli -- but its pages feature content that educates people on drinking water safety.

WATERisLIFE partnered with researchers at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Virginia to create the book.

UNICEF created aninteractive mapthat pinpoints where innovative clean water projects are taking place around the globe.

In Chad, for example, the organization has supportedsolar-powered water pumpsthat have helped bring clean water to underserved communities while also fighting off disease. Since the pumps have been installed, cholera cases in the country havedropped dramatically, according to UNICEF.

In Liberia -- a country still overcoming the recent Ebola outbreak -- the humanitarian organization has played a vital role in ensuring sick patients get enough water to survive.

"For each Ebola patient to be fully cared for,we need at least 150 liters of water," Michael Forson, water and sanitation specialist for UNICEF, said in a video produced by the organization. "That is 10 times what a normal Liberian gets as of now."

In a new treatment center, UNICEF provides water that's used in a variety of ways -- forcleaning clothes, for drinking and disinfecting the facility-- to help patients overcome the illness.

Source: Huffington Post

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