Case Studies - Where social entrepreneurship has developed a change

Lifesaver bottle

Disasters all over the world have made social entrepreneurs invent a perfect invention to help the people drink clean water. The bottle called ‘LifeSaver’ is a bottle that rinses the filthy water in the bottle! This might be one of the major inventions in this century, and has clearly been of successful use by hill walkers and British soldiers in Afghanistan, as well as communities in the developing world blighted by natural disasters that have disrupted the flow of clean safe water.

The bottle is 750mL and was the first product in a range created by Pitchard (the founder of Lifesaver) eight years ago. It uses a filtration technology that was previously applied only in industrial sectors. The outcome of the Lifesaver bottle uses a handheld pump mechanism to force water from the outside to the inside of a narrow coiled tube inside the device.

How does this work?

-          The smallest bacteria are about 200 nanometers in diameter while the smallest viruses are 25 nanometers. Lifesaver uses a membrane are 15 nanometers wide, blocking bacteria, viruses, cysts and waterborne pathogens from getting through. The dirty water can be left in the bottle until it needs to be cleaned.

-           The cartridge in the bottle is replaces after through-put of 4,000 or 6,000 liters, while the jerry can lasts for between 10,000 and 20,000 liters. Towards the end of the life of the unit, more pumps are needed. When the pumps no longer work, the filters have to be replaced – making it easier for the consumer to know when they need to change.

Clean Team

Many countries in the world cannot clean water and sanitation. Unilever, a multinational maker of consumer products, and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), looked for a suitable toilet and waste collection service to provide a complete in-home sanitation solution. They cooperated with IDEO.org to help them determine the best approach for developing the new products and services.

Both Unilever and IDEO.org succeeded in inventing a satisfactory toilet for the consumers after some prototypes – Uniloo. In 2011, the pilot trial was conducted with approximately 60 households in Kumasi. By the end of 2012, Clean Team was servicing 106 households and had begun production of 1,000 new Uniloo toilets. January 2013, a load of 384 Uniloo toilets arrived in Kumasi. Their aim is to service 1,000 households in 2013 and 10,000 by 2014.