Water in a slingshot

No, not in a balloon in a slingshot. Just in a slingshot.

Creator of the Segway, Dean Kamen, has come up with a device that can purify water and he calls it the Slingshot. This CNN article goes into detail about the inventor and the invention. The small machine takes up the space of a typical sized drinking water fountain. Check out the images on their page for a better idea of what it is.

The device works by “vapor compression distillation,” which probably means that it heats up the item containing water thereby vaporizing the water, compresses the vapor and distills it. He has stuck things in it like raw sewage, ocean water, and river water. Anything that has moisture would work. The Slingshot probably works so well because it can isolate the water molecules from everything else.

The problem is that it still costs several hundred thousand dollars to make one Slingshot. Kamen is hopeful, though, that after more engineering they can get the price down to $2,000.

At that price, more people could possibly afford it. The current model can supply 250 gallons a day, which he estimates is enough for 100 people. It might become part of a new water fountain system at a school, or be the central filtration system for a small village or apartment building.

Whatever it is, it is an invention that has the potential to change many lives. It would bring us one step closer to closing the resource usage cycle and living sustainably.

Image credit:
Flickr user au.st.in