Manoj Bhargava, the philanthropist owner of HANS Premium Water and 5-Hour ENERGY, is tackling one of the most pressing issues in the world today – the lack of sustainable freshwater due to climate change, industrial development, and population growth. He has developed a solution he plans to give away largely.
“Globally, at least a billion people are running out of freshwater, and most of the water in the U.S. is contaminated,” Bhargava said. “Brackish (salt-contaminated) wells and polluted water sources are pretty much everywhere. So there’s no shortage of water, just a shortage of clean water.”
Bhargava believes that creating workable solutions is the best way to approach problems related to climate change. Instead of complaining about them or arguing about how they could have been prevented, he and his team at Stage 2 Innovations decided they could fix it.
What emerged was the HANS Premium Water® (HPW) device. This dishwasher-sized machine is a modular, efficient, affordable solution that makes useless water useful at a flow rate capable of supplying a single-family home or building with clean water. It can also be linked together to provide entire villages or farms. Not only does it remove contaminants, but it also eliminates waste from plastic bottles and can recycle up to 80% of home and industry greywater.
“Our mission is to invent solutions for the poorest third of the world,” continued Bhargava. “Over the next decade, we expect to give away a billion dollars’ worth of HPW devices to those who need it most.”
When Bhargava says he’s going to give away a billion dollars, that’s on top of the hundreds of millions he’s already directed to help the poor. He is co-founder of the HANS Foundation, founder of Billions in Change®, Stage 2 Innovations®, HANS Power & Water™, Shivansh Farming™, and 5-hour ENERGY®. He aims to create, produce, and distribute useful solutions that serve the poorest third of the world.
The device is available for purchase in the United States, including Culligan Water, and sales to commercial customers will subsidize even more clean water machines for the poor.
Bhargava explained why he built a billion-dollar clean water business – to give it away: “I believe that it’s a duty for those who have wealth to become servants of those who have too little,” he said.
The HPW system represents possibly the most disruptive device in water treatment in 50 years, but the Stage 2 Innovations® team isn’t done by any means. With a mission to inspire those who want to improve the world to work on practical solutions, other projects include a device to provide free electricity to the poor, a promising therapy for Alzheimer’s, and an open system that allows poor farmers to make their fertilizer.
And, he says he has many other useful gadgets also in the works. In an apparent shot at Bay Area businesses, Bhargava says, “We don’t do cool, entertaining or convenient, just useful.”
A website has been set up to keep the public informed about the work’s progress, including video updates and newsletters, at HANSclimate.com.
