Background Information

Problem Situation:

            In many parts of the world, areas are stricken with poverty. Poverty may be caused by war and conflict, debt, lack of trade or flow of money, adjustment to a different government system, natural disasters, disease and sickness, or climate.  In addition to debt, malnourishment, increased child (and general) mortality rate, poverty can result in a lack of shelter, clean water, sanitation, employment, and human rights. One way to address the problem of poverty is to look at each component separately and come up with a solution to every one. Although this will take a lot of time, money, and agreement amongst governments, the general issue of poverty has the potential to be gradually relieved. The one aspect addressed is the lack of clean water for everyday use. This ties in with sanitation and will result in a healthier and longer life for all.

 People Involved:

The target customers of the people involved include populations in third world countries. These people live in poverty and have a lack of access to clean water. These people also don’t have the wealth to obtain clean water and as a result, the design of a filtration system must not be extremely complex, but also be accessible to many.

Case For Why Issue Must Be Addressed:

Poverty causes lack of food, shelter, and safety. As stated before, one way addressing this is taking apart the factors piece-by-piece and creating solutions. One solution is addressing the issue of clean water access. If clean water is easily accessible to impoverished areas, the rate of spreading waterborne diseases will decrease. In addition, disease will decrease because there would be no bacteria or microscopic organisms to cause complications to the human body. Overall hygiene in areas will increase as well as health and lifespan.

 Stakeholders:
The stakeholders involved in this project include companies or businesses willing to invest in the final product. These businesses include corporations who are ready to invest in a product that will produce clean water to a particular impoverished area. These may include private companies working to upgrade the health of an area or governments who are working to increase the hygiene of their land. The stakeholders may also include foreign organizations that are working to fund projects that will increase the condition of impoverished countries. Stakeholders may also be the intended audience that are benefiting from the investment of the final product. 

Intended Mood:

The intended mood needed for the design includes that of cleanliness and sturdiness along with producing a result of healthy and happiness. Having a sense of cleanliness and sturdiness will produce a feeling of confidence in the product and the outcome of the product. If the audience and stakeholders believe that the product will produce a healthier, happier, and cleaner result, they are more likely to invest in or use the product. 

Information on Products That do Similar Tasks:

Lifestraw- the Lifestraw is a portable, cylindrical shaped tube that purifies water from pathogens. The device is generally inexpensive and is very useful and has positively impacted third world countries.

 

Ceramic Water Filters- These water purification devices were first distributed to Cambodia and resulted in a fifty percent drop in illnesses back in 2002. The filters are constructed from fired clay, which create small pores that are small enough to remove most bacteria and protozoa. The device relies on gravity and filters between one and three liters per hour.

Life Sack- This water purification device acts as a container for shipping food as well as purifying water. Once the food is received, the sack can be used as a solar water purification kit. The contaminated water uses a solar water disinfection process with UV radiation and thermal treatment to kill microorganisms and bacteria. It can also be worn as a backpack for easy movement.

Pure Water Bottle- These water bottles purify soiled water in just two minutes by using four micron-sized water filters along with an ultraviolet light system put to use with a wind-up handle. With this combination, about 99% of impurities are removed from any water source.

Cycloclean- This water purification device purifies drinking water using kinetic energy harnessed from bicycle power. Users can bike to a water source and purify their own water. Pedaling for one minute can purify up to five liters of drinking water.

Summary:

            The problem being addressed is the lack of clean water in third world countries and impoverished areas. A lack of clean water may be caused by poverty because of an insufficiency of money or resources to obtain clean water. A scarcity of clean water results in an increase in the spread of disease and a decrease in hygiene and cleanliness. When hygiene diminishes, illness and mortality rate increases. For instance, if a family contracts an illness to due soiled water, they may not have the means to immediately recover due to the lack of vaccines or medicine in poor areas. If the illness becomes fatal, the mortality rate (due to this disease or any disease due to the lack of clean water in general) of an area will increase and the average mortality age will decrease.

            When investing in a final product, stakeholders may be concerned with how effective the product is and how long it can produce clean water before needing to be replaced. Others concerns are how much water the product produces and how long the product takes to purify a certain amount of water. Investors are most likely to put money into purification systems that produce a good result in large quantities within a short amount of time rather than those that produce purified water in large amounts over a extended period of time. Clean water is a necessity and therefore the final product should purify reasonable quantities of water in a logical amount of time. As a result, purifying water using systems such as UV light and thermal energy, make take some time and may also not be the most reasonable of solutions. In this case, using physical filters would most likely be the best option.