Water Issues Require Invention

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers around the world are writing about water as a global issue. In response to this topic, I want to put a call out to inventors reminding us of our role in solving problems.

Let's start with a little history.

In 1880, inventor Lester Allen Pelton applied for a patent for the Pelton water wheel. By 1890, Pelton turbines were generating thousands of horsepower to drive all kinds of equipment. By the time of his death in 1910, Pelton's turbines were in use at hydro-electric plants all over the country.

In almost every type of power plant today, water is a major cost. In fact, our power sources would be impotent without water. Plug your iPhone into an electric socket for charging and half a liter of water must flow through miles of pipes, pumps, and the heat exchangers of a power plant.

Two inventions arriving more than 100 years a part are intricately tied to one another by water. In terms of Blog Action Day, they can be connected to one of the biggest dilemmas in world history:

A human thirst for water is competing with a hunger for energy.

Nearly one billion people on our planet, many on the continent of Africa, lack access to clean water which causes untold struggle, including disease and death. On a single day in the US, more than 500 billion liters of water travel through power plants--that is more than twice the water flowing down the Nile River in a single day. The inequity is astounding.

Only radical new ideas can address this issue. Inventors, like Pelton, are needed to envision solutions. Even seemingly inconsequential inventions--such as those requiring limited technology or those made from recycled materials-- can be part of the solution.

Only by recognizing the problem can we take actions that will contribute to the solution.