MIT Solve

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Our Solution

Merit Living Systems & FEED.ME App

Our solution's stage of development:

Pre-Seed

Our solution:

Our solutions are based on two approaches: develop a product that integrates various technologies that ensures efficient use and reuse of drinkable water while continuously producing energy and growing adequate food in urban settlements. Secondly, develop a FEEDME app to promote a food sharing culture and responsible living

Our pitch:

Merit Living Systems and FEED-ME App

The Merit Living Systems is a project idea that integrates a combination of various technologies in one main product and ensures efficient use and reuse of drinkable water while continuously producing energy and supporting the cultivation of adequate food in urban settlements.

This product is a micro waste water treatment facility with integrated real-time sensors for quality assurance and monitoring. It is designed for use in homes. It works by collecting all waste water which is subjected to series of purification processes to reproduce drinkable water. In the process, bio-gas is produced for reuse in homes as fuel and organic manure for use in vertical farms.

The FEED-ME app on the other hand is an application designed to promote a food sharing culture and responsible living in communities. In most urban communities around the world, while there are many hungry people, the amount of food wasted is appalling. This app bridges the gap between those with more than enough food and those with very little or no food. Within a community, a hungry man with only a mobile phone can easily gain access to food through the help of the FEED-ME application.

The FEED-ME app works by enabling individuals, restaurants, supermarkets and hotels with surplus food to log information about available food. Those individuals or households with little or no food can also log information even in remote corners of the world using USSD codes. A basic infrastructure in the form of charities, public institutions or may be the use of drones may be required to facilitate transportation of food items from one location to another.

The problem:

The Merit Living Systems solve the following challenges: the ever increasing pressure on water resources; reduces environmental pollution by preventing dumping of domestic waste-water in rivers and other water bodies; the ever increasing water bills; increasing pressure on non-renewable fuel sources. The FEED.ME app addresses the following challenges: Lack of data in real-time on hungry peoples around the world; Lack of data in real-time on people/institutions with surplus food; the huge amount of food wasted globally, while there are still hungry people; the lack of a network to connect the haves and have nots on a global scale.

Why our solution will solve the problem:

The rational for the MERIT Living Systems is to ensure that 95percent of all water used by a household is efficiently recovered for reuse by the same household using a highly cost effective technology. It is more like the creation of an artificial water-cycle for sustainable domestic water management. It is built on the principles of benefiting both the individual and environment.

The FEED.ME app is built on the principles of sharing which is part of human culture and heritage. Our assumptions are that, there are more than enough food to feed the whole world but we aren’t sharing.

Who recommended you to Solve - or - how did you find Solve?

FIRST Global Robotics Programme

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The technologies we employ:

Chemistry/chemical engineering
Consumer-facing software (mobile applications, cloud services)
Imaging and sensor technology
Management & design approaches
Materials & nanotechnology

Why our solution is unique:

The Merit Living Systems uses multiple advanced technologies to make wastewater drinkable in homes. Although there are sewage treatment plants in most advanced countries, however these plants require costly infrastructure to collect/transport wastewater to a particular location for treatment. Mostly, the treated water is not fit for human consumption. Although ICTs, mobile apps and cloud services have been growing rapidly, there are no networks to promote a culture of food sharing among the world's haves and have nots. The FEED.ME app is a novel approach to reduce food waste through sharing and provides real-time data for governments and development workers.

Why our solution is human-centered:

Both rich and poor can access our technologies at very little or no cost. Our system is the holy grail for sustainable water management. Once this system is installed, it ensures water is available 27/7 while bills drastically drops. Utility corporations will also spend less on water infrastructure.

sharing is a significant challenge, because the “haves” don't know “have nots”. Your next door neighbour may be going to bed hungry daily without your knowledge. The FEED.ME app establishes such connections all over world. Development aid organisations and governments can access real-time data and target aid more specifically.

How people will access our solution:

Merit Living Systems product is a combination of different technologies housed in a 50cm*50cm*50cm with input for wastewater and output for clean water. It is installed between the wastewater and clean water reservoirs. It is expected to be cheap, affordable and readily available to all.

Most people can access the FEED.ME app through Apple and Android app stores, the poorest, however can access the services through mobile phone USSD codes worldwide.

Technology-Readiness Level:

0 (Concept)

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