This sounds great, but while bringing in water supplies by pipe and pump is the obvious long-term solution, I wonder if the same amount of water could be transported with fewer backpacks and a lot of bicycles.

I can't honestly understand how is this helping the developing world. I think installing a pump and piping system would be a viable solution, because it eliminates back breaking labour. This is like saying " see you can continue carrying water on your backs, but use this product, it's less back breaking." And I believe, more than products, services are that they require.

This is not the first "good" solution for the water-carrying problem. Have seen several over the years. The problem is affordability. If you supply a whole village with these, most of the villagers will sell them or swop it for food, and continue carrying a bucket on their heads. Been there seen it happen repeatedly. Africa do not need solutions, they need someone to teach them how to solve their problems in a Africa-friendly , cost-effective way.

- - A little research of the literature will show that the Army's 10th Mountain Div. re-visited research on carrying loads 'on the head ' as compared to on the back w/ and w/out Tromp lines , all 3 times ( over nearly 80 yrs ) the Army determined that loads where carried on the head best , increasing amount of work done , material moved , the author should look for a bias in this piece !

I agree with the other posters, the ultimate solution for Africa is Democracy and the rule of law. The water back pack is just a stop-gap until the real solution happens. Actually that raises the question, just how hard is it to set up a Democratic government? It seems most of the work is already done and freely accessible, for example I can look up any Canadian law I want online at a moment's notice or download the whole shot and have an instant Parliamentary government. Obviously I'm being simplistic, but then again: what if it actually could be that simple?

The reason for not having empty soda and mineral water containers sent out instead is ?. My recylers collect at least 3 from me every week, they also drop off containers on Chinese freighters full of Computer parts in Africa - Why not send intact empty's ?.
After all, if you cannot afford a clay pot to carry your water, how can you afford a nice modern backpack ?.
Sorry, articles like this only make me question human stupidity more than usual.

I hope that theses bags are available here in the states too. These would be great in an emergency too. But hey, I'm one of those crazy prepper people. As to fixing the problem by pipeline, needs unavaiable money, or bringing democracy, you need to wake up. Bring democracy to Iraq and afganistan has worked how well? Start with small solutions that will help, then you can deal with corrupt governments. As for them selling them for food, give thm food to may help, you cn only try.

1. Pumps/pipes/water treatment are unaffordable. These are villages with machetes.
2. If you look at the load carrying research, the answer is.... the wheel.
3. The first order of business at the tactical level is a taxonomy of what a successful paleo level village needs to be healthy. Giving them the internet sounds nice, but it's not the computer but the infrastructure that dooms the idea. Historically, the AID has given countries bulldozers, proving that bulldozers rust nicely sitting in the jungle. Bulldozers need supplies, fuel, roads, mechanics, etc.
4. So, what they really need are local skills and materials they can turn into local cottage industries (which create a skills/craftsmen class which creates marketable products which creates...). So, how can they make a water cart from local materials?
5. Giving them 21st century solutions just creates failure. Shipping food from the US means most of the budget is spent on shipping. Then cheap/free food destroys the local farm economy. And the free food is not nutritious and doesn't grow locally.
And so it goes.

Solutions are easy in an idealistic frame of mind, but if some of these people choose to use this resource, then it's a good thing. If some of them revert to the old ways, it means that they want to do that. If you will excuse the analogy, you can bring the horse to water, but you can't force it to drink!
The idea of piping in water is part of this solution. They pipe the water to a central point but because people live in their own villages and don't want to move house, they come to collect the water. Think of how far 4 miles is in reference to how far you go to get groceries in the suburbs! Would you move just to get closer to the grocery store and would you want a Safeway at the end of your street if you prefer to live in the country?
Africa's needs and solutions lie in its leadership. And leaders are the rarest of commodities and cannot be found by digging!

Piping water need not be too expensive if irrigation tubing is used. Here in the US, 500 feet of 1/2" black irrigation tubing costs about $50 or $.10/foot. I have been using 500 feet of it for a solar water heater and it has lasted for over 4 years without any problems.