Stephan Augustin, a designer at BMW AG, created a simple solar-powered seawater desalination device called the Watercone to provide clean water for the 2.5 billion people without access. It took several years of experimenting with shapes and production methods to develop a device that could be made from two pieces through mass production at low cost. The final Watercone design is made from a single piece of polycarbonate using a vacuum forming process.