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November 2, 2005
We haven't found all the good, cheap ideas yet III
In August and September we discussed technologies for creating clean drinking water. But people (mostly women) in the developing world ofter live a great distance from water clean enough to bother to sterilize. Normally the very poor devote great time and energy to they carry it on buckets carried on the head or shoulder.
When full, the five gallon jerry cans commonly used to carry water weigh about 40 pounds and women sometimes carry the cans to water hours away.
The hippo water roller is a major improvement in low-cost human-powered water transportation. You simply fill up a 20 gallon Polyethylene jug with screw lid with water. You clip-on a steel handle and push it home like a wheelbarrow.
Now households need fewer water trips, which frees up time for other economic activity and leisure. To the extent that children now spend extensive time gathering water, it also leaves more time for their education.
Posted by OneEyedMan at November 2, 2005 8:32 AM
Comments
Man, I'm glad that I'm not 2 dollar a day poor. One interesting thing that I notice from looking at the above picture and the other ones on the website is that they don't appear to be stackable (in the Russian doll sense) which must make initial distribution a major pain in the ass. I suppose that to make it stackable you would need to alter the design in some ways that might adversely effect the lifespan of the device. Still its a idea.
Posted by: giblfiz ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.belligerati.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 2, 2005 12:06 PM
Very interesting idea. My question would be regarding the durability and ease of maneuver of these barrels. A lot of the regions have a lot of brush, rocks, hills, etc. If they're 5 gallons is 40lbs, then would 20 gallons be... 160lbs? (A math & science HS graduate right here, people!) That's a lot of weight to attempt to maneuver over rocks/stumps/etc. Very interesting, thanks for posting.
Posted by: Jess H at November 3, 2005 1:42 AM
I hadn't thought of that. I guess this only helps those that have a road to water.
As for durability, I bet they are damn near indestructible, although the threads to connect the lids might be a bit more fragile. They are made of the same sort of materials as those igloo water dispensers and kids jungle gyms.
Posted by: TheOneEyedMan at November 3, 2005 8:57 AM
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