How To Make Water From Scratch

Some years ago some clever guys produced a spoof magazine based on Martha Stuart's Living and re-named it Is Martha Stuart Living?  One of the straplines on the cover was 'How to Make Water From Scratch' which most people thought hugely funny though at that time it might have seemed to Ms Stuart's thousands of adoring groupies that if anyone was going to do it, she would.

But now, Lo and Behold, another extremely clever guy from Texas called Terry Le Bleu has actually gone and done it.  He has not only pipped Martha to the post - which is no mean feat -  but has made a huge contribution to mankind. I mean it must be. His machine called 'The Drought Master' currently produces between 5-7 gallons of pure water (its been well-tested) a day and a gallon takes only 4 cents worth of electricity. All you need is a convenient plug and, of course, the machine. Each of the latter only takes 2 hours to build.

I know this fascinating titbit of information (which might be being blasted all over the world for all I know, tucked away as I am in rural France) to my American friend Liz Rich, who is a sort of one woman The Week and daily provides me and many other fortunate friends with articles from media all over the USA which she thinks might amuse, bemuse, arouse, fascinate, irritate, rouse ire and certainly keeps one up with the political scene. I don't know how she does it but she too is a gift to mankind - or the mankind that know her.

Actually my first thought, apropos of the blog I wrote last week about reinventing the loo or john, was whether Bill Gates and his wife have heard the good news and whether some fixer is going to get Mr le Bleu and his 'Drought Master' together with some of these scientists funded by the Gates' Charity and now busily trying to invent lavatories that will use the least possible energy and water - or none - to work well in the worst possible conditions and be reasonably comfortable. Once invented the new loos can be provided to those billions of people who have never had the blessing of a proper loo.  Or maybe someone has thought of a meeting already. It seems a shoe-in.


Mr Le Bleu appears to be a modest man who does not shout his splendid gift to the world. One of his machines has been going 10 years and is still working well. I guess it was a prototype he really wanted to micromanage to make sure it worked otherwise why have we not heard of this splendid invention before?  Republican Presidential Hopeful and Governor of Texas, Rick Perry has one. Maybe to keep it by him to prevent him getting hoarse when he is carrying on so about Mr Bernanke, the President of the Federal Reserve, not being welcome in Texas, rashly printing money as he does.  I know the machine is quieter than a refrigerator so it would in no way drown him out.