The Essential Element has developed a revolutionary next-generation mobile power plant and water purification solution that brings hope to over a billion people in the world who do not have access to clean drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, over 5,000 people die each day because the energy necessary to purify water is not available in impoverished regions or disaster areas. The company claims to have solved this problem with their HYDRA, an on-site self-fueled, self-powered system to pump, purify and store potable water and excess power.

The HYDRA is a fuel cell-based device that can turn scum into over 20,000 gallons of pure water a day, store electricity better than a battery, make medical-grade oxygen and run on the sun. “What we’re doing is using the sun to break water into hydrogen and oxygen, saving the oxygen for medical uses and using the hydrogen to power the fuel cell, which provides the energy to run the water purification system,” said Brad Carlson, COO of The Essential Element. “So it’s fully self-contained, needs no outside sources of power, and can be delivered to any point on the globe.”

The HYDRA produces far more power than the water purification equipment needs, which can then be used to power schools, clinics, tools, lights, emergency or community communication systems and other devices, say is inventors.

Mobile water purification systems have been employed for many years with limited results. Several major problems have limited the widespread adoption of the systems. High-cost/low-efficiency solar panels are heavy and expensive. They utilize difficult-to-dispose-of batteries with limited life and power storage and produce ineffective or marginal water purification. Use of gasoline or diesel fuel generators runs the risk of spills. Fossil fuel contaminates water and soil whenever it comes into contact with them—just one quart of oil can pollute 150,000 gallons of water—not to mention the toxic fumes emitted when fossil fuels are burned or the costs and difficulties of transporting those fuels over flooded or damaged roads.

Use of the HYDRA, which costs about $100,000, can provide pathogen-free clean water and power to people wherever and whenever it is needed, raising the standard of living for impoverished people all over the world, says Carlson.