Dutch Artist Turns Coca-Cola Back Into Clean Water

Coca - Cola - Gephardt Daily

Coca-Cola Purified into Drinking Water

Coca-Cola - Gephardt Daily
In too many parts of the world drinking what comes out of the tap can make a person seriously sick or kill them — assuming there is even a faucet to turn on. But if the nearly one billion people around the globe who lack access to clean H2O have the cash to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola, the sugary, caramel-colored carbonated drink is probably theirs for the asking. If you think it’s pretty ridiculous that unhealthy soda is easily available to the masses, but a glass of crystal clear water is not, you’re not alone. The contradiction is what’s behind Netherlands-based artist Helmut Smits’ latest project: a device that took a sample of Coca-Cola and purified it until it turned back into clean, drinkable water.

Smits teamed up with University of Amsterdamgraduate student Martien Wubdemann on the effort, which the duo dubbed “The Real Thing.” The play on the Coca-Cola slogan represents Smits’ views on soda and water.When he looked at Coca-Cola, he “saw dirty brown water, so it was logical to filter it back into clean drinking water, just as we do with all our waste water,” Smits told Dezeen..[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”] “It’s more to let people think about how we humans create the world around us and ask questions.” [/pullquote]

cocacolav

 

So how does it work? The machine, which made its debut earlier this month at Dutch Design Week, uses a simple distillation process. The Coca Cola is boiled and purified until it eventually reverts back to H2O.It’s a machine that could probably come in handy in plenty of places.

In January officials in India shuttered a Coca-Cola plant for sucking up too much groundwater. Mexico, where child obesity rates are soaring, is known as a nation where a Coke is safer to drink than tap water.

Even though the experiment was a success, Smits doesn’t plan to mass-produce the apparatus.“I’m not planning on turning all the Coke in the world back into water,” said Smits

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