Bill Gates is known for being a technical genius and computer pioneer, and now he’s using his innovative, entrepreneurial skills to pursue one of his philanthropic goals – to provide clean drinking water for poor populations around the globe.
The Microsoft co-founder is promoting a clean water initiative driven by a state-of-the-art sewage treatment device called the Omniprocessor. The machine – invented by U.S.-based engineering firm Janicki Bioenergy – is designed to literally transform human waste into safe, clean drinking water in a matter of minutes.
The billionaire’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is fully onboard to support these sewage treatment facilities as a solution to solving the widespread problem in third-world nations of contaminated drinking water.
According to the foundation, nearly 2 billion people around the world do not have access to appropriately drained human waste facilities. The result is contaminated wastewater that contributes to an estimated 700,000 deaths of children each year due to sanitation-related diseases.
The Omniprocessor is scheduled to be set up in Senegal as part of a pilot project to provide more livable and sanitary conditions in the country.
When asked about the gross factor of actually drinking water created from human waste, Gates said it actually tastes “delicious” and added, he “would happily drink it every day - it’s that safe.”
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