I am a high school senior in Utah, and I engineered a passive hand sanitation device to be used in areas without formal water infrastructure (disaster zones, developing countries, dry cabins).
I became passionate about hand sanitation in areas without formal water infrastructure after I read Behind the Beautiful Forevers, realizing the impact of hand sanitation on world health. I also became more aware of the water my family wasted at our dry cabin (without any running water) trying to wash our hands and dishes with a traditional five gallon spigot. I decided to engineer an inexpensive device which would (1) conserve 50% of water compared to traditional faucets, (2) could be refilled and reused, (3) fabricated to fit into a 2 liter bottle (water source), (4) made of non-corrosive materials, (5) dispense water on command, and (6) shut water flow off on command. I succeeded in my goal to create a passive hand sanitation device which can be fitted into a 2 liter bottle, placing third internationally at I-SWEEEP (International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project) Olympiad.
However, this technology is useless unless it can be used to help improve human lives. Inspired by openwheelchair.org, I have decided to make the designs to my final prototype public to be used (1) by individuals who live dry cabins to conserve water, (2) by organizations who travel to disaster zones to insure hand sanitation, (3) by organizations which serve less developed countries to educate about the importance of hand sanitation, (4) by individuals who are creating 72 hour kits to protect against dysentery, or by anyone who sees a need that this device fills.
I am continuing my project and will update this site regularly to insure the best product possible, Engineering Journal will take you to my engineering journal if you are curious about the design process I went through to create RainCloud. Please email me at sustainableworldengineering@gmail.com with further questions, with examples of how you used RainCloud, or with any other comments
Let's engineer a better world,
Morgan Barron
