Nivara – Water for the World

Empower impoverished communities to sustainably create their own high grade water filters using solar activated carbon.

Long Description

An estimated 4,000 children die each day from water related diseases, the primary cause being contaminated drinking water. Almost a billion people collect water from open water bodies. These sources are extremely prone to both microbiological and chemical pollution, like cholera, pesticide and industrial pollutants.

Our innovation is a scalable, low tech, activated charcoal producing unit that runs on solar energy. The unit delivers high grade activated charcoal which can be readily incorporated into a slow sand or similar filter to greatly enhance water purification standards.

Our idea stands apart from other clean drinking water solutions because we use existing natural water sources as opposed to drilling for water underground and further tapping strained groundwater resources. Most water filtration solutions rely on single use filters which must be replaced frequently to ensure proper function. Replacing filters is not only environmentally wasteful and financially burdensome but rural communities often do not have ready access to replacements due to their location. The result is communities being forced to drink harmful water.

We address this problem by placing the power to create filters in the hands of the people who use them. Our device is capable of producing a kilogram of activated carbon daily, enough to filter up to 20,000 litres of water. Communities and individuals can be economically empowered through activated carbon and filter production. Conventionally activated carbon is produced in large unsustainable fossil fuel powered industrial furnaces. We use solar power thereby providing a sustainable alternative to polluting methods.