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Five 2014 Startups Addressing The Ever Decreasing Drinkable Water Supply

by Felix Omondi

Five 2014 Startups Addressing The Ever Decreasing Drinkable Water Supply

According to the United Nations (UN) stats, 85% of humans on the planet live on half of Earth’s driest regions. Up to 783 million people lack access to clean water and about 6-8 million people die annually from water-related diseases.

Over the next 40 years, the human population on Earth is expected to grow by 2-3 billion people and with it the demand for food is expected to increase by 70% by the year 2050. The availability of drinkable water is expected to decrease in many world regions, given the demand for water for agricultural purposes is expected to increase by 19% by 2050. As many world regions develop economically, wealthy individuals are expected to shift their diet from predominantly starch based diet to meat and dairy products diet. The latter require a lot more water to produce.

Given the stats above, it doesn’t take a genius to see we (as a planet) are headed towards a serious shortage with regards to drinkable water. But don’t panic, at least not just yet! There are a number of innovative startups that began this year that promises to increase the supply of clean, safe, and drinkable water even to the driest regions on Earth. But like most startups, they are short of funds to launch their innovative ideas to the market and thus are currently running campaigns on Indiegogo.

The following are the top five 2014 startups addressing the ever decreasing drinkable water supply:

BoozeStones

You know how a drop of two or three ice cubes into a glass of your favorite drink makes the experience very soothing? But as soon as the ice cubes starts to melt it dilutes the whole experience and you kind of start having ‘diminishing returns’ with every sip. Well BoozeStone has come up with “a safe, efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to ice.” By using soapstones instead of ice to keep your drinks cool. The campaign had a target of raising $1,000 and with just a little over one week left to the closure of the campaign, they have already raised over $18,683.

Brewie

As a substitute for the ordinary home brew kits, Brewie gives users an automated alternative way for brewing beers. The device that is the size of a miniature fridge can do everything starting from milling and mashing down to boiling and cooling of the brew. Additionally it allows users to control the composition of the source materials and customize their beers in accordance to their taste; and saving a lot of water. The campaign sought for $100,000 and so far have garnered $119,159 and counting; it still remains with a little of over a month to closure.

Desolenator

The device harnesses the power of the Sun and uses it to boil brackish water turning it into safe water for human consumption. The unit can harvest rain water and brackish water (including salty water) that can be piped into it. The campaign kicked off on Nov 30 and they have already garnered 59% of their target goal of $150,000.

FreshWater

This device condenses particles of water from the atmosphere and purifies it. It is said, the device can collect anywhere between 9 to 30 liters of clean drinkable water per day. Another great advantage of this device, is that it runs on solar and is very portable. Now imagine just how convenient this technology would be to the pastoralists herding their animals around the vast dryness of Sahara, Kalahari and Namib deserts. The campaign which began on Dec 16th, is seeking for $500,000 funding.

Launch Drinks

This one is more relevant to athletes. It gives athletes the ability to customize their sport drinks by allowing them to mix their water with the legal supplement they need to boost their performance. The campaign is seeking a total funding of $250,000 but has only managed to garner $1,217 so far; this one needs all the help it can get since its fast approaching its deadline of Dec 29, 2014.

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