As per 2001 census 72.2 % of India's population lives in 638000 villages. Villages have acute water problems especially the areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Villages don't fancy the idea of getting water tankers toget water. Women mostly take it up to themselves to bring water from nearby water resources. Sometimes nearby is 3-4 kms. They use pots or locally known as 'Matkas' to bring water. The water at times is contaminated but villagers don't have much choice. They are not that rich to get water purifiers at home. What they need is a simple solution to there water problems.Wello well tries to solve a few of their problems.
What is Wello ?
Wello is a social venture whose mission is to effectively deliver clean water to a thirsty world.
They see water crisis as an opportunity and their invention The WaterWheel is their solution for the crisis.
Wello has reinvented the wheel after talking to more than 1500 communities, practitioners and experts over 15 months on the topic " How we can improve the existence of collecting,storing and using of water ? "
But why the need ?
Taking excerpt from their issues page :
"The time spent fulfilling this basic need keeps many children out of school and prevents women from carrying out all the domestic and income generating work for which they are responsible. In much of the developing world, it is often necessary to walk five miles (8km) or more every day to fetch water. In the dry season, it is not uncommon to walk twice this distance. Collecting water can be dangerous too. The traditional method of carrying water – carrying a 5 gallon (20 liter) water bucket on the head – can severely damage the spine, causing severe pain and even leading to complications during childbirth. In some countries, walking to find water exposes people to the dangers of land mines. "
Wello is a social venture whose mission is to effectively deliver clean water to a thirsty world.
They see water crisis as an opportunity and their invention The WaterWheel is their solution for the crisis.
Wello has reinvented the wheel after talking to more than 1500 communities, practitioners and experts over 15 months on the topic " How we can improve the existence of collecting,storing and using of water ? "
But why the need ?
"The time spent fulfilling this basic need keeps many children out of school and prevents women from carrying out all the domestic and income generating work for which they are responsible. In much of the developing world, it is often necessary to walk five miles (8km) or more every day to fetch water. In the dry season, it is not uncommon to walk twice this distance. Collecting water can be dangerous too. The traditional method of carrying water – carrying a 5 gallon (20 liter) water bucket on the head – can severely damage the spine, causing severe pain and even leading to complications during childbirth. In some countries, walking to find water exposes people to the dangers of land mines. "
As we see , women have to take the burden of carrying 20 liters of water on their head everyday and cover a long distance and that multiple times a day. Taking care of their family needs , they are ready to compromise on their health. Not only women but girls from young age also take the task to themselves.
The WaterWheel not helps them reduce the burden but also saves their time which they can utilize in other tasks such as recreation and education.
But why WaterWheel ?
Because
- It's convenient
- It's hygienic
- It's high quality
- It's aesthetically pleasing
- It's affordable
As we can see from the picture it has a handle attached to the pot which make it easy to use. It has been designed keeping in mind the rough conditions in India.
It has a capacity of 50ltrs and weighs around 55kg with water.
This makes it equal to 3 trips to the water source.
It has a cap in cap design which is meant to reduce incidents of diarrheal disease.
Also , as suggested the WaterWheel can be used to cover up the expenses of buying it by offering to stick posters on it by advertisers or the government can use it to spread important messages.
All in all , I believe this is an affordable solution to a few problems under the water crisis.
Thanks to Franklin Templeton and IndiBlogger for letting us know about this innovation and Cynthia Koenig for coming up and speak about it in TedX Gateway Mumbai in Dec 2012.
You can read more about this project and make a donation here : http://wellowater.org/
Have a look at Cynthia's TedX Gateway Mumbai presentation and get inspired :
Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.
A very good innovation. Nicely presented.
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