water filtration

Check out this sweet ride:

Image source: Gizmag

The Aquaduct Mobile Filtration Vehicle, developed by Adam Mack, Brian Mason, John Lai, Paul Silberschatz and Eleanor Morgan from California, USA, was the Grand Prize winner in the “Innovate or Die” Pedal-Powered Machine Contest this year.

"The competition sponsored by Google and bike maker Specialized, asked people to create Earth-cooling inventions based on the simple mechanics of the bicycle and attracted 102 entries from around the world."  

(view all entries on the contest's YouTube channel)

This little beauty filters water while transporting it back from the well or water source you collected it from.  And when you don't need to go anywhere, you can disconnect the clutch and pedal your way to cleaner water while the bike remains stationary. 

More beauty lies in the details:

"One of the issues faced by many Guatemalans is having access to pure and clean water. According to the Guatemala Ministry of Health, 98 percent of the country’s water sources are contaminated with water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever, hepatitis A, cholera, giardia, and amebiasis,” states the thesis of Aguapura, a water purifier developed by students from three different universities including CalTech, the Art Center College of Design, and Landivar University, which is based in Guatemala.

Engineering schools around the world are focusing more and more on bottom of the pyramid designs that will improve quality of life. And at courses like CalTech’s “Design for Development course” (taught by Professor Ken Pickar) high-design is fused with rigorous engineering and an experiential component. CalTech students from Pickar's class spend time in the field understanding the needs of Guatemalan's and bringing their insights to their design.