I'm really excited to introduce the first in a series of 'Inventor Stories' featuring Petra Wadstrom of Solvatten. So here goes:
Access to clean drinking water is a major crisis facing developing countries.
There are 1.2 billion people worldwide living without safe drinking water and 1.6 million diarrheal deaths every year caused by water-borne diseases. the majority of these are among children under five years of age.
Solvatten, a water container that harnesses the sun’s energy to make dirty water safe to drink, is a simple technology that can have a huge impact in poor communities in the developing world. The solar-powered water purifier is also easy to use – pour ten litres of water into its two tanks, leave it in the sun for a few hours and afterwards collect the safe water. The system can also be used as a portable solar heater, supplying warm water for improved personal hygiene and household use.
Though Solvatten, or ‘Sun Water’ in Swedish, may seem like a simple solution, it took 11 years to research and test out the product. Petra Wadstrom of Sweden, the inventor, developed Solvatten through her previous experience in working on the problem of unsafe drinking water in poor countries and her motivation to help solve it.
“To understand and imagine the situation of constantly living with unsafe water and illness made me focus to find an easy to use solution for women and children”, says wadstrom.
Solvatten AB is only 3 years old, but has already established itself as a company with a sustainable and practical solution to the clean water challenge. The system has a direct and immediate benefit to individual health and quality of life in developing countries by replacing traditional ways of heating water - such as kerosene, charcoal and firewood with an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative.
Wadstrom believes that bringing fresh eyes to the problems that people are trying to solve in the developing world is needed.
“I also have a vision to inspire teachers and students to look at problems and solutions from a different angle, to be inspired by solvatten to open up discussions about climate change, biology, maths and social relations.”
Today, the product is primarily distributed through NGOs using microfinance and subsidies, but Wadstrom hopes that over time the business model will transform so Solvatten can be purchased directly by users themselves.
Working with organizations from Kenya to Nepal, Solvatten’s main goals are to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and to reduce deforestation through a turn away from firewood usage.
"Wadstrom values solutions like kopernik, which she believes look with “fresh eyes at the problem of supplying much needed technologies to developing countries.”
