WaterWear Backpack

Water is very very heavy. I have learned this firsthand this week, from carrying water in 5-gallon buckets in different ways in class this week, to lugging my own water to my dorm so that I can flush the toilet as part of the water challenge. I am in awe of the women and children who carry more water than seems humanly possible on their heads every day for miles. On average, women and children carry water 3.5 miles a day. A family of six needs approximately 90 liters (24 gallons) of water a day. The time spent providing this water is huge. "More than 25% of the population in several countries of Sub-Saharan Africa spends over 30 minutes to collect water in one trip."(http://www.packh2o.com/Crisis/index.html)

In light of these statistics, Greif and Impact Economics teamed up to design a way of transporting water that is safe and efficient. The WaterWear Backpack provides an interesting alternative to the traditional methods of carrying water. 

Some facts about the backpack:

-Collapsable

-Lightweight

-Durable

-Holds up to 20 liters (5.3 gallons)

-Can remove liner for cleaning

-Sealed off from contamination

-Protected spout @ rear to provide for clean hand washing and drinking

In addition to the great features listed above, here are some things that I really like about the backpack:

-No contamination

-Easy to clean

-Lightweight, so that most of the weight you're carrying is actually water weight

-Design seems quite simple - doesn't seem like there are many parts that could break or go missing.

-Seems long-lasting

And here are some reservations:

-Doesn't have the capacity to carry much water. Compared to what women normally carry on their heads, it doesn't really seem reasonable. Won't women just have to make more trips, or get more help? 

-Relatively expensive, compared to a bucket.

-Maybe a backpack isn't necessarily the most efficient way to carry water? Backpacks, although taking the strain off of the spine and head, just transfer that pressure to the back. Based on my limited experience carrying heavy objects, it seems as if a backpack would cause the least strain - but this may not be the reality. There is probably a reason that head-carrying techniques were developed and are so widespread.

Would it be smarter to develop a head-carrying method of transporting water in a clean, lightweight way? The WaterWear Backpack design could be manipulated to create something like this. WaterWear seems to have developed a 15 liter version of the backpack that includes a head-carrying option. But that is a very low volume of water...could something be designed that is capable of holding more water?

Overall, I'm inclined to view this technology as potentially really useful. It seems like the backpacks could be distributed fairly easily. The product is very straightforward, so it does not require any training. Although the low water capacity seems like a real drawback, I think this technology provides a really safe option for women in developing countries who have to walk miles every day to provide water for their families.

If I had $10,000 to spend, I would spend a small portion of it sponsoring a trial of this product in several areas in developing countries. Then, if the technology seems to really help, I would spend the rest distributing the backpacks!

Check out more about the WaterWear backpack here: http://www.greif.com/outreach/packh20/