Remember how much fun spinning around on a playground merry-go-round was when we were kids?

In our recent article, Capturing the Unexpected Innovation, we included a picture from a story we knew we had to chase down (see image right). Thankfully, just as we were looking for more, BBC News ran the article, "Why pumping water is child’s play".

"It’s a positive displacement water pump, and as the children spin around it transfers their energy into vertical or reciprocal motion, and that pumps water from an underground borehole or well to the surface where it’s stored in a tank for future use."

With the children pushing the roundabout around 16 times a minute, the play-pump can produce 1,400 litres of water per hour from a depth of 40 metres.

Developed by Roundabout Outdoors, the play pump has been installed in hundreds of locations in South Africa, with the majority of installations at primary schools (with a healthy number of "volunteers"). In addition to providing life-giving water and life-fufilling play, the roundabout’s tank also includes space for four billboards, two for public health messages and two for commercial advertising space; proceeds from the advertising go towards paying for maintenance of the pump.

International organizations such as the Worldbank and the Kaiser Family Foundation (Washington DC) see the playpump as the ideal medium to inform rural populations on the dangers of HIV/AIDS infection. Consequently a large percentage of playpump installations automatically carry HIV/AIDS messaging.

What a great example of the power of play!

Past “Innovation from the Brinq” articles:
Why Not? A Guide for Ingenuity – Discordant Notes – Bambucicletas and Other “Cycles” of Innovation – Poor People’s Knowledge – India - Innovation Central – Building a Better ATM – Keeping it Cool

“No single measure would do more to reduce disease and save lives in the developing world than bringing safe water and adequate sanitation to all.”
- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Millennium Report

How do we meet the clean water needs of the world’s billions?

Connecticut based KX Industries may have the answer.

Perhaps you never heard of KX Industries (KXI), but you probably tasted the fruits of its work, they created the technology behind the PUR and BRITA "end of tap" filters: those water purifying pitchers we all know and love. Directed by CEO Dr. Evan Koslow and investor Kevin McGovern, KXI has recently developed an exciting new water filter technology, the "World Filter". Very little is publicly available about the filter, but the company claims its "nanofiber" technology is both extremely low cost and highly effective, so much so that Cornell business professor David BenDaniel called it "magic" when presenting a business case on the company. We agree with BenDaniel’s assessment, the technology was certified against strict standards: bacterial reduction of 99.9999%, viral reduction of 99.99%, and oocyst reduction of 99.95%. The company sees huge opportunities for profit and to meet the severe water needs of people in developing markets.

As magic as the technology is though, at BRINQ we know that success in Base of the Pyramid (BOP) markets is rarely about technology alone. For instance, look at Proctor & Gamble’s failure to crack the rural water purification market (as reported in a recent Wall Street Journal article). We’ve seen many demonstrations of P&G’s PUR powder, watching the swirling powder pull dirt out of muddy water looks like magic too, but its education requirement made the powder a difficult sell:

Still, the water purifier isn’t always an easy sell, even when it is free. One problem, P&G concedes, is that the product practically needs an instruction booklet. The powder, which kills bacterial diseases such as typhoid and cholera as well as various viruses, needs to be mixed with a specified amount of water and then allowed to sit for several minutes. The clean water then must be filtered through a cloth, to separate it from any debris, before it can be consumed.

Distribution in emerging markets is a huge and costly challenge too. Add marketing, gaining local trust, combating copycats, and protecting intellectual property to the mix and you can see that even with the most magical of technologies, the solution isn’t going to be easy. Clean water is also seen by many as a medical necessity: a perception might exist that people should get it for free. Even if the government buys your product at market value before giving it away, limiting your customer base hurts the products financial sustainability. You might even destroy local jobs by cutting out potential resellers. However, we’re not sure how toxic such “philanthropic poisioning” really is, and we know of at least one great example where free can help you reach high profit margins [Aravind Eye Care].

We believe an even worse curse for multinational companies is their financial return requirements. Though we don’t know how much KXI invested to develop the World Filter technology, chances are it was a pretty significant sum. There’s an unwritten law here: the more miraculous the technology, the more R&D dollars spent, the bigger and faster you’ll need to come out the gate to meet your Top of the Pyramid returns. With those pressures, it can feel impossible to start small and grow your business organically and smartly. Organic growth gives you time and experience to learn from your mistakes, whereas a fast and furious approach means that if you fall, you’re going to fall hard.

We have a lot of hope for KXI, the World Filter technology appears to be nothing short of amazing and Koslow and McGovern employ some incredibly brilliant individuals: their technical savvy itself borders on the magical. Still, here at BRINQ we know the world needs more than just magic, if brilliance were the only missing ingredient, wouldn’t one of us billions have figured out the answers long ago?