Don Gould

Ceramicist and Industrial Designer

Pure Water 4 All

Don Gould

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When people ask Don Gould how he knows that his product works, he answers: "Because babies stop dying." As part of a social enterprise consortium, Gould, who is both a product designer and ceramicist, helped to design and deploy simple, effective water filtration devices to the developing world. He talks with host Tim Zak about both the traditional production techniques and the new economy models for collaboration. Together, they deliver simple, life-saving solutions that are as robust as they are elegant.

Don Gould of Pure Water 4 All describes the design his consortium has developed to alleviate some of these issues.

These water filters can be used anywhere in the world, including domestic communities that have available clean water disrupted by natural disasters, war or other causes. Surprisingly, several communities in the US are afflicted by water borne disease at almost the level of third world countries.

Don's open source, for-profit process to design and deliver the filters directly to those populations most at risk is a model for any group hoping to bring technology to the developing world.

So, why is water such a problem?

Approximately 76% of earth is water, yet only 2.5% is fresh, and of that over 99% of fresh water is inaccessible (polar ice, etc.) Thus leaves only 0.3% of earth's water available for all living creatures to share. The Great Lakes in the United States contain almost 20% of all the fresh water on earth.And those resources are shrinking.

Why not turn ocean water into fresh water? Current desalinization projects to turn salt water into fresh water are expensive, cause environmental damage and can only benefit nearby populations that have delivery systems in place.

Over 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water (65% in Asia, 27% in Africa). Many have to devote several hours every day to retrieving water and water borne pathogens kill more children that any other cause, making unclean water the biggest threat to world health.

The 250 major watersheds worldwide cross political boundaries of at least two nations. Gould echoes the warning of many economists and scientists: The wars of the 21st century will be fought over water, not oil.