Waterborne disease is often the leading cause of death during natural disasters or civil crisis.  The problem of supplying clean fluids in the immediate aftermath of a disaster is one of logistics – water is heavy and difficult to move.  Repairing water systems takes time, as does digging new wells.  During the critical Phase 2 of any disaster, there are few alternatives for victims other than drinking contaminated surface waters.

HTI’s Relief Pouch is designed as a low-cost, emergency water tool for that critical period.  By reducing the logistics load by a factor of 15, this simple water filter amplifies relief effort by reducing the need to transport and distribute water and provides healthy fluids to disaster victims as quickly as possible.

The Relief Pouch is simple to use with few instructions.  The drink produced is can be an Oral Rehydration Solution for therapeutic use, or a sports-drink like fluid which tastes good and encourages consumption.



The Relief Pouch also provides an exciting new tool for AIDS prevention programs in the developing world.  Breastfeeding infants of HIV+ mothers are at high risk of acquiring HIV, perhaps as high as 30%.  Breast milk substitutes (infant formula) strategies largely fail to reduce mortality rates, however, due to the lack of clean water available to the mothers with which to mix the formula.