Proposal

=Proposal =

"Approximately “884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water”(WaterAid). The //Life Pump //  aims to assist these people providing them with the most basic need and right of life, water. The //Life Pump //  is a portable water filtration system that will assist in reducing the amount of disease carried through unsafe drinking water. The portable device powered by an economically and ergonomically appropriate foot pedal that will be able to filter polluted surface into clean, safe drinking water. The device could further be used to clean collected rain water. Designing a mechanism that will provide clean drinking water will allow for healthy individuals and prosperous future generations.

The Life Pump is a portable microbiological water purifying device based on the same filtration system used in the //LifeStraw //. The Life Pump is made up of three pieces: the foot pump, and two heavy duty water tubes. The foot pump is designed to be a much faster way of transferring water from the source to a container, where the LifeStraw uses human suction, and the LifeStraw Family uses gravity. The Life Pump is lightweight and yet can produce massive quantities of clean water in a very short period of time. When in use, one end of a water tube is to be placed into the water source, while the other end is attached to the foot pump. On the other side of the foot pump will be the second water tube placed in the water container (i.e. Q-Drum). Once the user begins to press down on the foot pedal, water will be pumped through the tube and into the foot pump. Inside the foot pump will be the filter system, which removes viruses, bacteria, parasites, and even dirt. The water passes through this filter and flows into the second tube and into the container.

Twenty percent of the world’s fresh water supply resides in Canada. This leaves 80% of fresh water to be shared among the rest of the world. Developing countries have always faced the issue of filthy drinking water. Half the children in the world live in poverty and 400 million or 1 in 5 child hasn’t access to safe drinking water. This can be due to the lack of water resources near by or natural disasters. About 1.4 million children die each year from the lack of access to safe drinking water (Global Issues). The Life Pump is designed to supply clean water to people living in these harsh conditions.

There are many benefits to using the Life Pump as part of a daily water gathering routine. It allows for quick and easy access to clean drinking water which can hopefully reduce the amount of sickness and deaths due to water born illness in developing countries. The Life Pump gathers and filters the water then sends it directly to the water storing container. The filter installed in the Life Pump eliminates all impurities and bacteria ensuring that the water is safe and drinkable. The benefit of initially having clean water pumped into the storage containers, rather then taking the water directly from the source then purifying it, is that it will maintain the cleanliness of the storage containers so there will be less bacteria build up in them. The foot pump is also an efficient way to get water quickly using just human energy to power the pump.  References: WaterAid. Statistics. WaterAid International Site. March 5, 2010. .

Shah, Anup. "Poverty Facts and Stats.." //Global Issues // . N.p., 22 Mar. 2009. Web. 6 Mar. 2010. < <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[|__http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats__] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">>.