At the GlobalTED 2009 conference, Michael Pritchard gave a demonstration of the remarkable ability and potential for a product he invented called the Lifesaver Water-purification Bottle. The water bottle (also available as a Jerrycan) uses a “non-chemical nano-filtration hollow fiber membrane” with the smallest pores (15 nanometers) in the industry (smallest virus is about 25 nanometers). A single filter can clean 6,000 liters of water, and is equipped with a mechanism to auto-shutoff when it is no longer safe to use. The Jerrycan, on the other hand, processes 25,000 liters of water with the same technology.

This device can have a dramatic impact in emergency situations (as it is cheaper than shipping bottled water to disaster areas), in ensuring worldwide access to safe drinking water, and even in our daily lives — making water more cost effective. Living off the the Lifesaver water filtration system costs approximately half a cent per day.

For $8 billion, we can achieve the millenium development challenge of halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water. For $20 billion, we can eliminate the problem all together.

Here’s the video:

There’s still a lot I’d love to know about this project, in particular the distribution strategy. If anybody has further details on the business aspects, please share below or shoot me a message!

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The company website is: http://www.lifesaversystems.com/