Ever Hear Of A Hippo Water Roller?

If you're like me, you didn't know what a Hippo Water Roller was until today.

Also known simply as a "hippo roller", the Hippo Water Roller is an ingenious invention that let's people in poor, remote areas collect and transport 24 gallons of water at a time by rolling it in a special plastic barrel.

According to the Hippo Water Roller website, the rollers are manufactured in Johannesburg, South Africa. One roller will serve seven people directly and many more indirectly. One Hippo Water Roller costs $100 and will last 5-7 years, though the website says that some of the Water Hippos distributed over 10 years ago are still functional. I just ran the numbers, and by my calculations if a hippo roller lasts 5 years it will cost about 5 cents per day to provide 7 people with fresh water. That's less than one penny per day per person!

Check out their website for more details, and consider making a donation to help people have fresh water every day. I just did. You can even check out the Wikipedia article on the Hippo Water Roller. Now every time I turn on the tap I think about how fortunate I am, and I think about someone in a land far away using their Hippo Roller!