Aqua Port

Background

Water is an essential element for human survival and millions of people die from lack of access or from unclean water. Unlike most parts of the developed world, there are numerous homes in sub-Saharan Africa without running water. During my early years, I recall fetching water with a bucket from the neighborhood water tap then slowly carrying the water home, trying not to spill most of it before I reached my destination. It was common in a developing world; millions of women and children travel considerable distance to fetch water from streams, wells, or community taps. This water is used for household chores or purified to provide drinking water. Some choose to carry the buckets on their head while others carry it by the handle, stopping intermittently for a break. My project idea provides a simple and affordable water transporter for carrying the collected water. The device will allow the user access wells or collect stream water by incorporating an easy way to collect water. This water transporter will also easily integrate with rural filtration methods like the ceramic filter.

Need

Our idea is focused on rural communities in Ghana, areas where our target social enterprise designing purification methods reside. We will primarily target Ghanaian women as our end users. Research shows that women carry most of the water in developing countries like Ghana, followed by children and then men. The women usually carry the water in buckets on their head putting excess strain on their body. In addition, these women are only able to carry one 20-liter buckets on each trip. Research by the WHO shows the need to be 120 liters per household. Children between the ages of 5 and 12 serve as our secondary end users who go with the women on their own and carry an even smaller quantity of water back home to the family.

Aquaport can be pushed or pulled to transport water. In addition, this water transporter is cheaper than existing devices and retails from $45 to $49.50 depending on the volume ordered.

Our product is shown below. Visit the how it works page for description of the Aqua Port

Check out our blog at http://aquaport.blogspot.com/ to learn more about the team and project developments.