2. This simple product provides
anyone an independent,
inexpensive,
and mobile solar means to create
potable water by condensation
in, what is quite simply, a solar still.
mobile 可移動的
potable 適於飲用的
condensation 冷凝
3.
4. After making several trips around the world and becoming
aware of the global water problem, Stephan Augustin, a
designer at BMW AG, felt a social responsibility to create a
simple, highly utilitarian, solar-powered seawater desalination
apparatus that could be manufactured cheaply. "For ecological,
economical, geographical, and/or political reasons, 50 percent
(2.5 billion) of the world's population has no access to clean,
potable water and sanitation," says Augustin, who set his mind
to doing whatever he could to minimize this problem.
utilitarian 效能
desalination 去鹽作
用
apparatus 裝置
ecological 生態的
sanitation 環境衛生
minimize 使縮到最小
5. His primary challenge lay in how to go about producing such a
product while keeping it inexpensive enough to produce through
mass production. He knew it could comprise no more than two
pieces and that there was no predecessor to follow; there was
no comparable product on the market. Dedicating himself to the
job, Augustin started work on the project in 1998 by
experimenting with solar desalination. All of his work on this
project was done in the evenings, weekends, and holidays in
addition to his regular job at BMW.
comparable 可比較的
dedicate 把時間 / 精力用於…
6. He began by experimenting with evaporation and
condensation using a simple upside-down pyramid, a
common device in desert survival. The problem here
was that one-third of the condensation formed at the
outer wall and ran into the sand. Moreover, the
lightweight, plastic foil device wasn't wind resistant.
evaporation 蒸發
plastic 塑膠製的
7. In February 2001, Augustin had a breakthrough idea
in terms of the shape of the Watercone. A simple
wooden tool was used to test the idea of a cone
outfitted with a screw-cap spout at the tip and an
inward circular collecting trough at the base. This
cone was made out of two pieces that were glued
together. While promising, the piece burst and dirt
collected at its inner edge, which wasn't satisfactory.
outfit 全套裝備
screw-cap 螺帽
glue 黏合
satisfactory 令人滿意的
8. In the fall of that year, Augustin contacted a company in
Germany which was willing to develop the idea. "We began to
think about several production methods that could be much
cheaper than vacuum forming, which needs lots of
manpower," he says. "We looked at different types of blow
molding, especially for PET bottles, which already have a
screw-cap spout at the tip, but all the manufacturers rejected
[our proposal] because of geometrical and physical reasons.
Then, we had the genius idea for a vacuum tool that allowed
us to make the cone out of one piece."
vacuum 真空
geometrical 幾何的
9. In spring 2002, construction began on a prototype
vacuum tool. Later that summer, the first working
products came out of this tool "after lots of failures
because the material was stretched so much at the
outer trough areas that it came out as a thin foil,"
Augustin says. "After about 100 tests, we found the
right temperature and airspeed to get a perfect result."
airspeed 空氣速度
10. Winter 2002 brought a license agreement with that
same company to produce and distribute the product,
and in spring 2003, Bayer AG, Leverkusen became
the supplier and partner for the polycarbonate,
Makrolon, which was the primary material.
license 許可
polycarbonate 聚碳酸酯
11. "As we had no PR and headcount budget, the
company we were working with and I were using
international awards and press reports about this
product resourcefully and abundantly to increase
public awareness about the global water situation
and our innovative product to get manufacturing and
distribution started-and it worked!" says Augustin.
PR 公關
resourcefully 機智的
abundantly 充足的
12. "There is a big potential for innovations that fulfill
humanitarian, ecological, and economical aspects
in one product ... and I hope concern for humanity is
the next new trend."
humanitarian 人道主義
economical 經濟的
trend 趨勢
