World changing water filtration.
I was listening to an old podcast of the Commonwealth Club radio program yesterday. Gayle Pergamit, CEO and Founder, Agua Via was talking about water and Africa. She spent a good 40 minutes talking about why the problem is so incredibly intractable. I was ready to drive off a bridge.
Then, she spent 20 minutes talking about a new water filtration technology that her company has developed. This is a world changinng technology.
Most water filters are thick. It takes a lot of energy to force the water through them, and they get gunked up easily.
Agua Via has invented a process for creating a membrane that is 1 molecule thick, with an opening that is exactly the size of a water molecule. Water pours through it at the incredibly low pressure of 1 PSI (that is a 27 inch colum of water in earth gravity). This technology can remove poisons, toxins, anything living, and more importantly SALT. Yes, it desalinates! Imagine, low energy desalination. It is the holy grail of water. The promise of nanotechnology with the power to save millions of lives. A small unit can filter 100,000 gallons a day.
You can listen to the podcast here. (Skip to about minute 40 [or if you are short on time] if you have a good understanding of the problem, [you probably don't the problem is worse than you think])
