The Google & Specialized Innovate or Die contest $5000 Grand-Prize winner is the Aqueduct bike. It is a three-wheeled bike (trike) that uses a rider's pedal power to transport and filter water from rural water sources. Women living in rural villages may carry several pounds of water over large distances back to their living spaces. The Aqueduct, designed by a team of inventors in Menlo Park, California, allows you to fill a large water-carrying rear tank, and then filter 2 gallons of water into a clean water receptacle on the front of the bike while pedaling the heavy water back home. If you need to filter more water after arriving home, you can disengage a clutch, and pedal the bike in a stationary position to activate the internal pump and filtering system.
The comments on different sites related to the concept and design of the Aqueduct range from "awesome" to unrealistic for third-world users, due to maintenance, bacteria not addressed by the filtering system, and limited if any access to necessary replacement parts, for example, tires and filters. Per usual for new inventions, some will get iterated and developed, and some people will like them while others will not. I really enjoy seeing how different minds use bicycles and pedal-power to problem solve. Go view the 102 bike-related Innovate or Die contest videos via YouTube. It's Monday. You're moving kind of slow after the weekend. Watch some inspiring movies. (Make sure to wear your headphones if you want to keep your job. Some of the videos get kind of loud.)
Photos lifted from YouTube.
Google to Gizmodo
