This Company's Inflatable Concrete Tanks Assist in Disaster Relief

The effects of natural disasters are numerous and substantial, and the response to each one includes a very different amount of improvisation. Disaster relief also brings a host of infrastructural questions to the foreground. If hundreds or thousands of people are displaced and are living in temporary housing, how do you make sure that they have clean and safe drinking water, for instance?

Agencies like the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have pointed to the importance of maintaining good hygiene in the aftermath of a disaster. The many issues with sanitation at the Superdome in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, for instance, illustrate the challenges facing disaster relief agencies.

All of which makes a recent article at Dezeen that much more intriguing for what it implies about the future of disaster relief. Dezeen spoke with Paul Mendieta and Beren Kayalı, the founders of a company called Deploy. Deploy makes inflatable concrete water tanks, along with concrete bases that can be used for the tanks or other structures. The company’s current model holds 14,000 liters (or just under 3,700 gallons) of water — and a version that’s almost three times as large is listed as “coming soon” on Deploy’s website.

As Dezeen’s article reveals, 14 of the tanks have been donated to disaster relief efforts related to the recent earthquake there.

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It isn’t hard to see why the idea of a water tank that can be set up within 48 hours and is designed to fit on a pallet has plenty of appeal. And if it can help save lives and keep people healthy in the wake of a horrific event, it seems like an impressive and ingenious use of technology.