The problem that is the lack of access to clean drinking water has been gaining attention recently.
With all of the luxuries that many of us take for granted, it's a bit of a shock that people die every day from something as simple as a lack of clean water.
It happens, though, and a lot of people are trying to change that.
One of those people is designer Arturo Vittori who, on a trip to northeastern Ethiopia, was stunned by what he saw.
One of the biggest problems with bringing these communities clean water is money. It takes a lot of money to build wells or do pretty much anything else to help.
Vittori seems to have gotten past that problem with what he calls WarkaWater.
Named after the Warka tree, the invention is very simple. A scaffolding of bamboo holds up a mesh similar to what oranges come in. The mesh let's water condensate, and the water runs down the mesh into a collection bowl. The invention can collect up to 25 gallons of water a day!
A WarkaWater costs just $550 and is made from completely natural materials. It's nearly 30 feet tall, 26 feet wide at its broadest and just a few feet across at its narrowest, and weighs only 88 pounds. It's made to be cleaned easily as well.
Vittori is currently looking for donations, but hopes to have some of these odd-looking things up by 2015.
