JERRY is a low-cost filter that fits onto jerry cans to provide safe drinking water

according to a report by UNICEF and the world health organization, 1 in 3 people globally still do not have access to safe drinking water. to help tackle this issue and the diarrhoeal deaths attributed to unsafe water, olivier de gruijter of studio forthemany and business developer eise van maanen created JERRY, a self-cleaning water filter made specifically to fit onto jerry cans. the small, low-cost device hopes to provide safe drinking water to those who need it most.

‘we have developed a water filter that allows people to clean their water on a daily basis in a simple way,’  says de gruijter, product designer and founder of studio forthemany. once connected to a jerry can, the product functions as a filter and a tap for drinking water. the design contains two filters, eliminating over 99.999% of bacteria and parasites and over 99.9% of viruses from the water. ‘a glass is filled in only two pump strokes with little force, allowing young children and the elderly to filter water with ease,’  continues de gruijter.

while most water filters are integrated into large tanks, JERRY can be mounted onto a jerry can, which many households already possess. this eliminates the need to transport bulky containers, lowering the logistical cost needed to bring clean water to those who need it most. ‘in many places, jerry cans are an integral part of the water infrastructure and are used to transport and store drinking water,’  notes van maanen. ‘this device enables people to treat water in their jerry cans at the point-of-use, as the water source may be contaminated, or the jerry can itself may not be clean, or both.’

technically optimized in collaboration with the faculty of industrial design engineering at delft university of technology, the product contains a self-cleaning mechanism, which automatically cleans the filters with every pump stroke. this system ensures that the product is maintained continuously without any complex cleaning procedures, optimizing the lifetime of the filter, with an estimated lifespan of over 10,000 liters of water. currently, the design is part of a product pilot by oxfam novib and cesvi, where 130 prototypes will be tested over a period of six months in a refugee camp in iraq. in the next 5 years, studio forthemany aims to bring safe drinking water to one million people.

project info:

name: JERRY: the jerry can water filter
designer: olivier de gruijter of studio forthemany

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom