NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Providing clean water to their people is a challenge for developing countries struggling to avert health scares while keeping a lid on costs. Three classmates from Singapore are trying to lend a helping hand, using little more than a plastic bag and a ceramic membrane.

In many disaster-stricken regions and rural areas, residents often have to resort to drinking contaminated water, resulting in the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and typhoid.

Singapore-based WateROAM aims to tackle this issue through a cost-effective way to convert waste water into drinking water.

At just 400g, the company’s palm-size Fieldtrate Lite appears as a non-descript plastic bag but the portable filtration system claims to remove bacteria and other pathogens, without the need for electricity. The $25 device is able to filter 6-10 liters of dirty water in just an hour and is targeted towards households.