Purifying the Business of Selling Water

INNOVATION: Purifying the Business of Selling Water
By Astrid M. Krogstad

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4493&printview&imagesoff
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4493

In 2004, Jonathan Ritchey and Rick Howard joined forces to address the loss of one of the world’s most precious resources: water. The majority of the planet is covered with water (326 million cubic miles), yet only 3% is fresh water and even less is accessible to humans. Element Four is Ritchey and Howard’s answer—a company devoted to easing the global fresh-water shortage. Their product, the WaterMill, converts air into potable water through condensation followed by antimicrobial processes. The water then travels to various “points-of-use systems” such as home faucets and refrigerators. Ideally, the WaterMill will produce 3.2 gallons of water per day—enough to meet the needs of a family of six. And at an average operating cost of 35 cents per day, it far surpasses in cost-effectiveness the price of bottled water. The point is to alleviate the environmental burden of bottled water, while placing control of fresh water sources into the hands
of consumers.

The WaterMill is at the intersection of technology, environmentalism and philanthropy. Though the company’s target demographic will initially consist of suburbanites, Howard and Ritchey envision adapting the product for worldwide use. “With a minimum relative humidity, the WaterMill can be of benefit to any consumer in almost any environment, and this is where Element Four can have a global impact on the water crisis,” says Howard. Available in February, it is the first in an upcoming line of products that will include a solar-powered version of the WaterMill as well as the WaterWall, a large-scale adaptation for use on an industrial scale.

Drinking Water Miracle Worker

Source: http://ecolocalizer.com
Written by Shirley Siluk Gregory
Published on October 15th, 2008
Posted in Cincinnati, Ohio

Danny Steaven at Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons license.)One billion people without access to clean water. Four thousand child deaths a day because of water-borne diseases. Most of us hear those statistics and shake our heads. Greg Allgood took action.

Allgood (a fitting name if ever there was one), a public-health specialist at Cincinnati-based Proctor & Gamble, led a team that developed what can only be described as a miracle powder: an inexpensive concoction that, with a little stirring and time, causes impurities in water to coagulate and settle to the bottom. Not just “regular” impurities like particles of dirt or even bacteria, but parasites like cryptosporidium and giardia, which can cause severe — sometimes fatal — intestinal illnesses.

This week, the PUR water purifier was named one of Popular Mechanics’ Top 10 World-Changing Innovations of the Year. It’s an honor that’s well deserved.

Allgood did more than help develop a miraculous life-saver, though: he convinced Proctor & Gamble not to stop making it after the powder didn’t prove profitable enough. Instead, Allgood persuaded the company to create a not-for-profit unit: the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program. The unit has since helped relief organizations around the globe provide people with more than one billion liters of clean, safe drinking water.

Allgood himself travels around the world to hand out packets of PUR and teach people how to use them to make sure their water is safe to drink. He’s been blogging about his experiences since 2005, and his posts make for fascinating reading.

Be sure to check out the PUR Packet link at the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Website to see this amazing powder in action — it’s awesome.