Team:UGent Belgium/Integrated Practices
Integrated practices
Environmental & economical impact
Water scarcity is a major and growing problem worldwide. Around 1900 only 2% of the world population was under chronic water shortage while currently more than 1 billion people suffer from physical water scarcity and a quarter of the human population lack sufficient water due to economical reasons, such as the lack of infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers (Kummu et. al, 2010, Water Scarcity. International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005–2015". un.org. Retrieved 20 October 2013).
Additionally, in regions of physical water scarcity the average income per capita is rather low which hinders the development of infrastructures to collect freshwater (for example by filtering seawater) (see following picture).
To improve the life quality of those billions of people, it is essential to create a cheap and efficient device to passively collect freshwater. This is exactly what we did with the Dewpal project: our shape is printed in cheap but sturdy materials resulting in low production costs, especially in mass production. Additionally, the device can be produced locally, if 3D-printers and filament are available or can be provided, reducing environmental and economic costs.
The benefits of the wide use of our dewpal device are huge. Apart from providing easy and cheap access to clean drinking water, the sustainability and development of crops would also benefit enormously which in turn helps the economical situation in those countries. Also, since consuming polluted water and consequent diseases are a major hindrance in education, having access to sufficient clean drinking water will improve the level of education in those areas. The distribution of a cheap device for freshwater collection is a key step in breaking the vicious circle of poverty where billions of people are currently in.
