According to Forbes magazine and many other sources, water, not oil, is the most valuable liquid on earth. The earth is more than two thirds water, but the fact is that many populated parts of the earth suffer from a consistent shortage of safe drinking water.  The need for potable drinking water will shape the socio-political realities of the world, even in the near future, and many mega-corporations are positioning themselves to capitalize on water. The vanguard of that capitalization can be seen in the commercialization of bottled water by the giants like Coca Cola and Nestle. Think of the profits that can be derived by selling something that has virutally no cost of goods sold (except the actual bottling process) and that can be sold at prices higher than gasoline. But bottled water is really small potatoes compared to the privitization of potable water. Today, most drinking water is supplied by governments. The problem is that the entire infrastructure that supplies water to people is in trouble. Water treatment plants need overhauling to cope with exotic new chemicals and contaminants and the water delivery pipes are in danger of collapse… and all that costs money to fix… money that governments don’t want to spend. So, why not let private corporations invest in the infrastructure and make some profit selling water?

The fact is that privitization experiments have been unsuccessful. Not only do they lead to water that isn’t particularly safe, but water is only available to people who can afford to pay for it. So what’s the alternative?

The real solution may be to start thinking out of the box… and the box for water treatment is the idea that water must be treated in big water treatment plants. What about water treatment at the level of private homes or even individuals? Personalized water filtration is an idea whose time has come and the simple facts are that personalized filtration can provide water that is safer than that from water treatment plants and at a lower cost.

One of ths most interesting technologies is the LifeStraw technology made by Vestergaard Frandsen S.A. of Switzerland. These filters effectively remove bacteria on contact, including salmonella and staphlococcus. One configuration of the technology is a personal drinking straw. It is opening the possibility of potable water from rivers and lakes in places where safe drinking water has only been a dream. Reusable and at $3 to $4 each, the LifeStraw technology has the potential to reduce the outbreak of disease and improve the living standards in many of the world’s poorest regions.