Desalinization? Meet Kamen. He Might Save the World.
According to the United Nations, portable water (drinking water) is not available to 1 billion people in low- and middle-economic countries. That's almost 18% of the world's population that has to rely on unsafe drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, unsafe drinking water is the cause of over 1.6 million deaths a year. 1.6 million from water? In fact, waterborne pathogens are responsible for half of the world's diseases. HALF! That's madness!
The truth is that there is plenty of fresh water in the world to maintain our current population, but a lot of it is contaminated or polluted. It's also not evenly distributed. For those places with too little? Well, I guess the solution is to make water.
The truth is that there is plenty of fresh water in the world to maintain our current population, but a lot of it is contaminated or polluted. It's also not evenly distributed. For those places with too little? Well, I guess the solution is to make water.
How does one "make" potable water? The most popular way is desalinization plants which take salt out of salt water, leaving... potable water. The largest North
American desalinization plant is in Tampa Bay, FL. It went live just over three months ago and sucks up 1.4
billion gallons of Gulf water per day to provide 25 million gallons of potable water, which is 10% of the water used in the Tampa Bay region.
The first thing that jumps out: it must take a lot of energy to run 1.4 billion gallons of water through ANYTHING, much less through filters that have membrane pores that are 0.001 microns thick (that is 1/100,000 the width of a human hair) at a pressure of 1,000 pounds per square inch. I mean, that must be some electric bill! The other thing that jumps out of me is the maintenance on a beast like that. Tampa Bay has 223 miles of these membranes under constant high-pressure. That can't be cheap.
My instinct was correct. Usually these "water-making" plants are situated near a power plant, using the heat generated in power production to cut the cost of running the "water-making." It's a technique called co-generation. Now, where do they have amazingly cheap power and salt water a go-go? That's right... the Middle East. Of the 7,500 desalinization plants worldwide, 60% are in the Middle East, with the world's largest in the United Arab Emirates. It produces 8 times Tampa Bay's volume. Saudi Arabia's desalinization plants, alone, account for 24% of the world's volume.
But what about places that don't have super-cheap power sources (or the money for maintenance) like Eastern Africa or parts of Asia? Well, Dean Kamen has a solution. Dean who? Dean Kamen. He's an inventor with this resume: AutoSyringe (a new type of mobile dialysis system), the first insulin pump, an electric all-terrain vehicle called iBot, and (drum roll) the segway. He's considered one of the most significant inventors of our time.
Kamen has focused on creating potable water from ANY water source, not just salt water. Kamen was haunted by those 1.6 million deaths from unsafe water (and 50% of the world's disease), and he says he has a solution that uses a technique called vapor compression distiller. Essentially, Kamen has made a machine where, he says, "you stick a hose into anything that looks wet ... and it comes out ... as perfect distilled clean water." Anything? This beauty's called the Slingshot. Kamen announced his intentions to create the machine in 2002, and there has been great mystery surrounding it since.
Last week, Kamen revealed the Slingshot on Comedy Central's Colbert Report.
(Sorry that's a photo, not a video... curse Movable Type!)
According to Kamen, the machine provides 1,000 liters of clean drinking water a day out of any water source: ocean, puddle, chemical waste site, hexavalent chrome, arsenic, poison, 50 gallon drum of urine (as they discussed on Colbert). Weighing less than 60 pounds, the machine is expected to cost $1,000-2,000.
Most importantly, the fuel source for the Slingshot is dynamic, and it can run on anything that burns, from propane to cow dung. Also, maintenance is near-zero; there are no filters or charcoal to replace. It just... runs.
Kamen was giddy about introducing the world to his machine, as he should be. He was almost as giddy as I was while watching it. I mean... this could change the world.
If you'd like to see the (hilarious) interview, check out the video on Colbert Report. You can also check out this Wired page that has a compilation of stats about the machine and more links for your reading.
I mean this kicks desalinization's arse. Any damp source? No maintenance? Runs off anything? 60 pounds? I'm totally blown away.
The Slingshot? Dean Kamen? (Colbert Report?) World-changing HAWT action [hot ak-shuh
n].
The first thing that jumps out: it must take a lot of energy to run 1.4 billion gallons of water through ANYTHING, much less through filters that have membrane pores that are 0.001 microns thick (that is 1/100,000 the width of a human hair) at a pressure of 1,000 pounds per square inch. I mean, that must be some electric bill! The other thing that jumps out of me is the maintenance on a beast like that. Tampa Bay has 223 miles of these membranes under constant high-pressure. That can't be cheap.
My instinct was correct. Usually these "water-making" plants are situated near a power plant, using the heat generated in power production to cut the cost of running the "water-making." It's a technique called co-generation. Now, where do they have amazingly cheap power and salt water a go-go? That's right... the Middle East. Of the 7,500 desalinization plants worldwide, 60% are in the Middle East, with the world's largest in the United Arab Emirates. It produces 8 times Tampa Bay's volume. Saudi Arabia's desalinization plants, alone, account for 24% of the world's volume.
But what about places that don't have super-cheap power sources (or the money for maintenance) like Eastern Africa or parts of Asia? Well, Dean Kamen has a solution. Dean who? Dean Kamen. He's an inventor with this resume: AutoSyringe (a new type of mobile dialysis system), the first insulin pump, an electric all-terrain vehicle called iBot, and (drum roll) the segway. He's considered one of the most significant inventors of our time.
Kamen has focused on creating potable water from ANY water source, not just salt water. Kamen was haunted by those 1.6 million deaths from unsafe water (and 50% of the world's disease), and he says he has a solution that uses a technique called vapor compression distiller. Essentially, Kamen has made a machine where, he says, "you stick a hose into anything that looks wet ... and it comes out ... as perfect distilled clean water." Anything? This beauty's called the Slingshot. Kamen announced his intentions to create the machine in 2002, and there has been great mystery surrounding it since.
Last week, Kamen revealed the Slingshot on Comedy Central's Colbert Report.
(Sorry that's a photo, not a video... curse Movable Type!)According to Kamen, the machine provides 1,000 liters of clean drinking water a day out of any water source: ocean, puddle, chemical waste site, hexavalent chrome, arsenic, poison, 50 gallon drum of urine (as they discussed on Colbert). Weighing less than 60 pounds, the machine is expected to cost $1,000-2,000.
Most importantly, the fuel source for the Slingshot is dynamic, and it can run on anything that burns, from propane to cow dung. Also, maintenance is near-zero; there are no filters or charcoal to replace. It just... runs.
Kamen was giddy about introducing the world to his machine, as he should be. He was almost as giddy as I was while watching it. I mean... this could change the world.
If you'd like to see the (hilarious) interview, check out the video on Colbert Report. You can also check out this Wired page that has a compilation of stats about the machine and more links for your reading.
I mean this kicks desalinization's arse. Any damp source? No maintenance? Runs off anything? 60 pounds? I'm totally blown away.
The Slingshot? Dean Kamen? (Colbert Report?) World-changing HAWT action [hot ak-shuh
n]. Join the HAWTaction reader group on Facebook.
Kamen's the man. I can't wait for you to have the option to buy:
1. Anywhere from 2.5 to 5 Slingshot machines and save the world OR
2. Buy a segway.
I'm the best blogger ever.
- JLF
Segways rule. Dean Kamen is a genius. He has his own country and currency. Totally pimp.
Doesn't this use the Sterling engine to run? The rumors are that he has been working on a Sterling engine (vastly more efficient than any other intenral combustion design) for some time.
Anyhow, bring it on. Clean water for everybody, woo-ha!
Pues, si, Jason! I think that Sterling engine might need its own HAWT post...
If it weren't for Dean Kamen, fat billionaires like myself couldnt enjoy playing Segway polo.
Wozzie! I knew you were a HAWT reader.
How is Kathie Griffin treating you?