Co-founder of Microsoft turned super-activist Bill Gates recently found an interesting way to kill two birds with one stone. His new innovation solves water shortages and sanitization problems in third world countries by having them drink poop water.
It’s actually a little more complicated that. As the video below demonstrates, sewer sludge is subjected to a machine called the Janicki Omniprocessor. The Omniprocessor has a complicated process to treat water, although nowhere near as complicated as our water treatment plants, which can’t be easily manned or afforded by third world countries. What comes out is a stream of perfectly clean water, which Mr. Gates himself promptly drank.
(via Mashable)
Aside from creating clean water, the Omniprocessor also converts the sludge into electricity that powers a generator with excess energy. This energy can be sent back to the community, along with ash that the machine owner can sell. So really it’s killing five birds with one stone, if you think about it.
