Water filters can be easily created using a specialized combination of sawdust, clay, and silica. After educating a community on the mixture ratio, local artisans can experiment with new forms, create solutions that address local issues, and sell them in their existing economies.
Sift strives to address these problems by placing the distribution and creation of filters in the hands of trusted community artisans that have established businesses. If someone that already supplies you with household pottery goods suggests that you purchase a new good that can help clean water, it has a higher chance of acceptance than if an international power airdrops in plastic products,
In these remote villages, western donated water filters were dotting the landscape, polluting the environment that they were originally sent to protect. My impetus for starting this project was to create a method for people to create their own solutions as to not rely on international aid. I approached the design of the project from a usability first perspective. What form could convey the function without additional instruction?
The forms were displayed at the Chicago International Home and Housewares Conference in 2018, and won a IHA award for their potential to help local communities.
