NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Water - Comments

Cast Your Vote in The Global

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:47:16 -0500

Cast Your Vote in The Global Competition -- Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis Ashoka’s Changemakers and Global Water Challenge invite you to vote for the most innovative approaches to providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation worldwide. We’ve received 265 entries from 54 countries, and 8 finalists were chosen for their pioneering ideas: 1. Naandi Foundation, India 2. WaterParterns, United States 3. City Garbage Recyclers, Kenya 4. Ecotact – Innovating Sanitation, Kenya 5. Swayam Shikshan Prayog, India 6. Himanshu Parikh Consulting Engineers, India 7. The Clean Shop, South Africa 8. Centre for Community Organisation and Development, Malawi Now we need your help: Log onto www.changemakers.net, read through these inventive solutions and select your 3 favorites by May 11. The three winners will each receive $5,000. Your voice is vital. Vote today!

Hi there! This is Sara, who

Sara — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:41:11 -0500

Hi there! This is Sara, who are you? It's always nice to get back in touch with UMMers.

Out of poverty

Kapur Ghimire` — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:27:59 -0500

Dear Paul, I was listing to NPR and came to know about the things that you have done for farmers of Nepal. Like Krishna Bahadur Thapa. I, myself is from Nepal. My inner desire is to go back to Nepal or any third world country and teach them the basics of sanitation/ healthy living. I have inherited some land from my father and I would like to go back and turn that into a model village for the world to know that the change is not for bad. Since, you have done and you know so much about urban developments. I would be enlighten to learn a bit from you so I could share you wisdom with others to elevate their lives. Thank you and hope you could understand my feelings. Kapur Ghimire

Distribution

Steve — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:32:24 -0500

Hello, Would you please elaborate on how PureIt is distributed? Do the MFI's serve as intermediaries/resellers for these devices?

Water filters

Leif Nielsen — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:39:47 -0500

Well, we have had the Katadyn filters for a while and they do a better job than the above mentioned Life Straw but the price tag sure is much harder to consummate.. the technology is by no means new. only new thing in this is that it’s low priced to a degree where those in real need of filter can actually buy one. Thanks to the Vestergaard Frandsen Group.. If you should want to bribe me ...send one of your mosquito nets..I can hear one of the buggers in m room :-) Best regards Leif the Viking

Waterless Car Wash

Bryan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:34:25 -0500

Is your product available in Canada?

Interest in Car wash business

Emeka — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:47:45 -0500

Kindly furnish us more information on your franchise or on how to buy your products in order to establish a car wash business. Thanks.

No out of poverty

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:50:48 -0500

I read your review of "Out of Poverty" and am afraid that we are mistaken in believing that the good things we can do to help smallholders improve their lot really does amount to an escape from poverty. Unfortunately, it usually does not. The improvement of the conditions of the very poorest people by means of intensifying agriculture on very small holdings (in this case, usually a couple of acres) by means, for example, of better crops, treadle pumps, and drips sytems, does not, and cannot ever, bring the expanding population of people depending on these tiny holdings "out of poverty". Do the calculations: at the end of the day, the 9 remaining members of the family Polak cites as his key example are earning exactly $1.06 dollars a day. Although their lives have improved, they are still living in extreme poverty, dollar-a-day poor, and, after having more kids on that land, will be even poorer. The only one who actually got out of poverty was the man who left the land to work in the Middle East and was sending money back to his folks in Nepal. Intensification of production on smallholdings can only get people out of poverty if it quickly leads them (if possible, all of them) to actually leave the land and get work that will provide a decent living. This is the real dilemma that so many of us working with very small farmers must face. We can help in the near term to improve their condition some (albeit they will still be horribly poor), but with the next generation of children, and more subdivision of the land, their poverty will only increase. The fear I have is that this is really "forever poor" not "out of poverty, quickly, and permanently." Again, do the numbers. I am afraid the book needs another title.

waterless car wash

Brian Phillips — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:34:40 -0500

We at Aero cosmetics in San Antonio TX USA. Manufacture a waterless aircraft wash and wax that meets Boeing Aircraft specifications for both exterior and interior waterless cleaning. We have many waterless car wash companies using our products. It is sold in ready mixed and in concentrates. We can ship anywhere in the world. For more info www.washwax.com or washwax@washwax.com.

waterless carwash

MIKE — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:31:38 -0500

IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO PROVIDE ME WITH THE OWNERS ADDRESS / E-MAIL / PHONE IN BRAZIL? BEING THAT I AM A NATIVE BRAZILIAN I WOULD LIKE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM DIRECTLY. I WILL BE IN BRAZIL END OF APRIL BEGINNING OF MAY. THANK YOU

water treatment

Barbara — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:53:56 -0500

I am not third world but do live in a part of Wyoming where dinosaurs roamed, hence water with TDS of 3600+ and dangerous levels of sodium and sulfates. I am pretty desperate to find a solution that would treat my water just out of the well. I have horses and they cannot drink this water. Would Mr. Kamen's invention be a possibility for me?

Means and Ends

Abigail — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:56:43 -0500

I think the answer to the question, "Does a farmer need a pump or does he/she need a loan?" is not a trade-off question, but highlights the potential for combining different market-based mechanisms to raise accessibility and demand. It's possible that, given the availability of the right financial tools and customer education, a farmer may wish to take a loan to buy a pump. If this happens, it's evidence that the farmer, who knows exactly what his/her combination of risk and need is, sees the pump as a valuable tool to increase income over the long term. Microloans are, of course, only a means - new designs for the BoP can be both means and ends, but in themselves they are nothing if they cannot reach their target market.

This is very interesting. I

NewSunSEO — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:49:40 -0500

This is very interesting. I am surprised you do not see more of these places around the US since there are a lot of places with water usage restrictions.

micro loan or moneymaker pump

Dr. Paul Rigterink — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:34:09 -0500

Can African farmers make more money with a micro loan or a MoneyMaker pump? Do they need agricultural supplies or the money to buy them from existing sources?

way to go Sara!

Melaleuca — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:02:20 -0500

I knew Sara Lam from the University of Minnesota and I'm so impressed by what she's doing. She's making such a difference in so many lives in mainland China. She's inspiring.