November 25, 2008
Will Slingshots and Play Pumps prevent the ‘Water Wars’?
With the coming ‘water wars’, the world is going to be much more focused on water usage than anybody is on oil today. Here are two ways the quality of life for people in Third World countries can be immensely improved:
- Dean Kamen’s “Slingshot” – a water purification system
- Play Pumps – kids playing on a merry-go-round pump water up from an underground well
Many first learned of Dean Kamen through his amazing iBot, wheelchair “designed to climb stairs and traverse uneven terrain”, or maybe though his more well-known Segway, but this post references his newest invention: “Slingshot” (see Dean Kamen’s several inventions).
Esquire has an informative four page article on Dean, but for his newest invention, the water-purifying Slingshot, Kamen uses two different inventions of his and uses them together as one unit. The “sling” is Kamen’s new version of the Stirling engine: instead of tiny explosions driving the pistons of a standard internal-combustion engine, his “sling” Stirling drives its piston by forcing gas from one chamber to another in a perfectly closed system. The “shot” is his vapor-compression water distiller, which can make PURE medicinal-grade water out of anything that’s wet, even urine or toxic waste – water so clean you could inject it into your arm. Together, the sling and the shot could save millions of lives.
For more info, here is a short video of Dean showcasing his “Slingshot” on the Colbert Show:
Now for the “Play Pumps“. Their slogan, “Kids Play. Water Pumps.” says it all, but here’s their short video:
To put some actual numbers on the subject:
- While you’re reading this, half the people in developing countries are suffering from water-related diseases.
- Water-related diseases are responsible for 80% of all sickness in the world.
- About 4 billion cases of diarrhea per year cause 2.2 million deaths.
- 1.7 million children under the age of five die from diarrhea each year.
It seems to me that Kamen’s water purification system, “Slingshot” and the child-powered “Play Pump” can play a huge part in bringing clean, drinkable water to the world, something we may all be more concerned about in the future if the ‘water wars’ come to a neighborhood near you.
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One response to 'Will Slingshots and Play Pumps prevent the ‘Water Wars’?'
What do you think about that?
Wow, play pumps are magic. Could also employ the see-saw as a different kind of pump. Good lateral thinking.