that's awesome and a really good idea for sustainability.

It's a beautiful concept. This is the kind of simple technology can really change the world . * Humanitarian, Issy?

yeah *humanitarian and *travel

Amazing, I wonder what exactly the filter is that they are using.

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^ probably uses similar techniques as this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4967452.stm

It looks like they're trying to market the bike to people in third world countries who don't have sufficient water filtration. It's a cool idea, but probably a little flawed.

The people that this would most benefit probably work for less than a dollar a day. A bike like this is definitely not an option for them. It would be at least a couple hundred dollars. That's a year of saving every penny you earned. Probably not worth it. Not only that, but families in developing countries are generally larger than the average American family. A family of four needs at least 20 gallons of water a day. That tank of purified water looks like it holds about two gallons. That's 10 trips back and forth to your water source, just for clean water. 10 trips would consume most of your day.... and you'd require more water from all that exercise. You'd have to force your children into employment at an early age, since you spent the family's savings on a strange looking bike, and now you're so busy riding around on it that you can't work.

So yes, cool concept. But i'm really, really surprised that it won the "Innovate or Die" competition this year.

That said, LittleRed, I think you missed some things. It actually holds about 3 gallons, and I think a person would retrieve water a lot faster and easier and expend way less energy pedaling and riding one of these any day than walking and carrying the water by hand, not to mention the time and resources saved not having to boil or treat the water.

Hey LittleRed, how about you buy it for someone in a third world country, how about charity, micro loans, good old fashion human decency. Yeah and I'm sure using pedal power is a lot worse than carrying half as much water, half as quickly, in a jug on your head. In countries like Senegal, the mortality rate amongst woman in labor is insanely high because carrying water on their heads since adolescence stunts their hip bones. But they have to do it.

The children already work over there, everybody works, the children don't get to sit around and watch TV. Everyone has to take part in preserving the household and making sure everyone is alive.

Do you know anything about why third world countries exist, what their resource situations are like even for something as renewable as wood? Have you seen what their water looks like. Of course they're not going to be able to afford the bike. But their government could buy a bunch, I could afford to give a family one, you could afford to give a family one, some nice rich guy could by 100 for a village.

Do you think that the people who were smart enough to create a mechanism that both transports water, and cleans it - from parasites and disease - would be daft enough to think that a family who makes 43 cents a day is going to be able to afford this bike. NO!

Use your imagination.

This is not an invention looking for buyers, its an invention looking for investors, manufacturers and distributors. I'd also be interested in what sort of replaceable filtration technology they currently employ. Would be ingenious if they could be manufactured and replaced onsite ( http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/waterfilter.html ).

I remember an interesting movement kinetics study from a few years ago, analyzing the efficiency of movement for different animals. Humans walking were remarkably inefficient compared to many animals, the most lopsided comparisons being against large birds, like condors. HOWEVER, human's on bikes were exceedingly efficient movers, demonstrating how ingenuity is the 'bread and butter' of our species.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'aquaduct, water, filteration, environment, sustainability, filter, design, bike, pedal' to 'aquaduct, water, filtration, environment, sustainability, filter, design, bike, pedal' - edited by kronosposeidon

Thanks for fixing my spelling boo boo, Kronos!

*eco *wheels

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