and then globally through a highly replicable model.

Much of the world, like India, receives at least 75cm of rainfall a year, therefore, a home with a roof area of one hundred square meters can collect 75,000 liters of rainwater a year. WHO says that each person needs at least 20 liters of clean water a day, which equals 29,200 liters a year for a family of four. 90% of annual rains fall during the monsoon season when daily rainfall exceeds a family's daily water needs. This gives them a surplus of 45,800 liters, which has a value of US $458 when the water is sold for US $.01 per liter. This will more than double the average family's annual income!

What makes this rainwater harvesting system viable is the recent invention of something the planet desperately needs - a low-cost rainwater storage tank. This tank uses off-the-shelf material and easily produced PVC parts, all of which are readily available worldwide. The cost for a 1,000 liter tank is US $10, or US $.01 per liter, while the closest competitor (a used steel drum) costs US $.06 per liter of storage capacity.

System Components: The Collection System

The tank consists of a length of chain link fence joined along the vertical edges to create a seamless metal framework. Wire hoops are inserted within the mesh to increase the framework's strength. A seamless round sheet of plastic provides the watertight layer. It has PVC flanges attached to allow water to flow in and out of the tank. A round sheet of poly tarp protects the liner. The layers are attached to the framework's upper edge using wire clips and the flanges are attached to the woven wire mesh using wire ties. A cover is attached to the framework to further protect the water. The tank is then placed on a clay, brick, or cement platform. Gutters, a downspout, and a ceramic filter complete the system.

If the tank is placed outdoors, an exterior shell will be necessary to protect the tank from UV rays, animals, children, water theft, and so on. Low cost shells include wattle and daub, thatch, bamboo, and roofing shingles.

Key features of the tank are that it can be disassembled for cleaning, repairs, storage or relocation. It is distributed as a kit in sizes up to 200,000 liters. It is inexpensive, light-weight, earthquake-proof, and upgradeable. Its low cost enables water to be stored in a battery of tanks by grade which encourages recycling and reuse. A ready-to-assemble version is ideal for disaster relief work being far more economical to fly in than pallets of bottled water.

A marketing evaluation of the concept pegged the odds of success in the marketplace at 82%. After a year of development and testing, that number would be significantly higher now. An expert in water tanks said, “I think this is a great idea. I’m surprised no one has thought of it before.”

The Transport System

A 500 liter woven wire tank weighs just 20 lbs, making it an ideal vessel for hauling water from the home to the storage facility. The tank is mounted on a rickshaw that has a maximum weight capacity of 1100 lbs (500 liters.) Many other types of vehicles are available to haul water, ranging from oxen drawn carts to tanker trucks.

Gravity is used to transfer water from vessel to vessel since it is free, simple, and reliable. The primary home tank holds two thousand liters of water, is two meters tall, and has flanges running down the outside. The rickshaw pulls alongside and lines are connected between the two tanks. Gravity flow is used to transfer water from the full tank into the empty transport tank.

The Storage System

Woven wire tanks, up to 500,000 liters or more, allow families, communities, business, and industry to store all water collected during the monsoon season, to either sell or use during the dry season.

The ability to mass-produce low-cost, ready-to-assemble, large capacity water tank kits in a factory is unprecedented. Wire strands and hoops are shipped to the construction site where the framework is assembled on a cement foundation. A factory manufactured geomembrane liner, an outer shell, flanges, PVC lines, and a cover are also shipped to the construction site where they are installed to complete the assembly.

The Market Opportunity

Every roof in the third world should be connected to a rainwater harvesting system.

A key feature of the system is that it will be distributed as a kit. Local micro enterprise shops will provide delivery, assembly, installation, and maintenance. This provides three key features: good paying jobs that do not require reading, writing or math skills, new opportunities for MFIs to provide microloans, and low labor costs for Elixix.

Marketing will take many forms. Marketing to NGOs will focus on enabling them to fulfill their missions by providing systems to schools, clinics, and mothers. Direct sales to wealthy families, businesses, industry, and institutions will use advertising. Sales to families and farmers will be done through incentives (income & health) and word of mouth.

There is a huge potential for each franchise to become self-building and self-sustaining due to such strong motivators as improved health and increased annual income for families, good paying jobs for water haulers, system builders, water storage and processing enterprises and so on. In other words, the communities benefiting from the network will be motivated to ensure each franchise's success.

The Management Team

The Elixix team currently consists of the founder and inventor - Reed Sembower. Due to the enterprise's scope and potential, highly capable people will be required to manage operations.

The Financial System

Elixix will partner with leading MFIs to provide families with micro loans to finance home systems and storage tanks. The loan agreement will stipulate that families must sell water to Elixix until the loan is repaid. One tank of water will then be included with each system sold during the dry season to enable year-round sales. Once families repay the loan, they can opt to sell water on the open market and use profits as they wish.

Initial funding requirements are US $1,414,055. The money will go towards engineering, IP protection, material, production and training. Initial milestones include field trials commencing in June 2008, when India's monsoon rains start. Pending the field trial's success and product refinement, sales to wealthy families, business, and industry will commence shortly thereafter, with NGO sales to follow in step.

Once the model is tested, proven and refined, Elixix will license the technology to governments, multinationals, cities, industry, and businesses using the franchise model . A separate fee for each meter of storage capacity distributed will also be stipulated, as well as a fee for each cubic meter of water stored each year.

Value Propositions: Healthy Families

• This system will save lives. Children all over India and the world die each day from the effects of drinking unsafe water. Rainwater is completely safe to drink when the system is well maintained, according to WHO.
• The family's overall health is improved due to drinking safe water. This translates into higher work productivity, fewer sick days, a happier family, and much more.
• Income from the sale of excess water will have a profound effect on the family.

Mother Earth Approves

• This static system simply collects the remarkable elixir known as rainwater - nature's most precious renewable resource.
• Product handling is eco-friendly in that gravity is used to collect and pump the water and evaporation is used to recycle the water.

A Triple Bottom Line for Communities Communities thrive when given an infusion of hope and opportunity through:

• Jobs as in the collection, transport, storage, and processing of water.
• Income by using the home's roof and the weather's annual cycles as a dependable source of income.
• Good health by alleviating the afflictions caused by drinking unsafe water (and eighty percent of all global illness is related to drinking bad water).

In Closing

Implementing a rainwater collection network will not only make the lives of the needy more waterful, but it will also earn them, and investors, a lot of money.

Providing families and communities with improved health, a better quality of life, and a new source of income and prosperity is the 21st century way of saying those timeless words "hope" and "opportunity," for which the value is beyond measure.

Building a system that solves one of mankind's biggest problems in an environmentally sound and socio-politically correct manner will provide a return on investment that is priceless.