WaterWheel to ease burden on women

[ashling]

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/dec/29/waterwheel-burden-women-water-container

Girls and women carrying plastic jerry cans of water on their heads is a common sight in rural areas of poor countries. The WaterWheel eases that burden by storing water in a round 50-litre container that doubles as a wheel.

Designed after consultations with villagers in the dry northern Indian state of Rajasthan, the WaterWheel is made from high-quality plastic that can withstand rough terrain. It will sell for $25-$30, compared with $75-$100 for similar products.

"Our goal is to distribute on a large scale, on small margins to 10,000-20,000 customers a year," says Cynthia Koenig, founder and chief executive of Wello, a US social venture working on ways to deliver clean water in poor countries. Wello won a $100,000 Grand Challenges Canada prize to develop the WaterWheel.

[dipsydoodle]

1. Elsewhere known as a lawn roller.

I'm surprised they've not latched onto this before.

[surrealAmerican]

13. I thought a "lawn roller" was what we call ...

... a "push mower", for cutting the grass.

[dipsydoodle]

14. Mowers cut the grass and maybe roll it

Rollers act to firm lawns and also crush grass stubs to split them and make the lawn more lush. Proper old ones are cast iron and those used on cricket pitches are huge.

Garden one here :

http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/SharedApps/displayimage.php?DSID=7&BLOBID=215

[NYC_SKP]

2. I love that! Here's a different invention related to purifying water: Water Cone

http://www.watercone.com/product.html

http://www.youtube.com/v/On7gbKIa5zc

[CrispyQ]

4. OMG! Best Use Of A Billboard I Have Ever Seen.

A billboard that produces drinking water out of air. Incredible ingenuity!

http://www.upworthy.com/omg-best-use-of-a-billboard-i-have-ever-seen?g=3

1.5 minutes

[NYC_SKP]

7. Wow! And developed right there at the University of Energy and Technology!

Had never heard of them before now:

http://www.utec.edu.pe/Utec.aspx

[loudsue]

11. That needs a thread of its own! Absolutely brilliant!

What a huge benefit for those people! They need to put these up in Haiti, too, because they, too, have a lot of humidity. Someone needs to get hold of the Hollywood stars who are still working in Haiti since the earthquake, and let them know about it.

[CrispyQ]

5. I checked out the water cone.

Pretty cool!

I read that in some parts of the world women spend four hours of their day getting the family water supply. I can't even imagine.

[Tobin S.]

3. Excellent!

[Agschmid]

6. Great idea!

[cinnabonbon]

8. Badass!

What an excellent invention.

[MADem]

9. INGENIOUS!!! That is the coolest thing I have seen this year! nt

[Blanks]

10. Along the same lines (saving women time) there are solar cookers...

We kind of take for granted that we can just turn on the stove and heat water, but there are still places in the world where firewood needs to be gathered and it is not safe for women to be gathering firewood in some areas.

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_cooking_in_developing_countries

A simple thing that actually saves lives.

[Brother Buzz]

12. Reinventing the wheel - I like

Or is it reinventing the wheelbarrow?

[CFLDem]

15. Cool stuff nt

[mcjimmyv]

16. Makes u think

It really does make you think the hardships other parts of the world have when a simpler water roller is such an innovation. Schemes to teach people to seed their grass and crops have also become more popular in 3rd world countries.