CamelTrain is the first all-membrane, nanofiltration-based portable water purification unit in the world. Using this recent technology, CamelTrain can remove viruses and bacteria, cysts, heavy metals, color, odor, flavor, and even radionucleotides from contaminated water. It produces near reverse osmosis quality water of up to 10 gallons per minute, at a minimal cost of US$.05 per cubic meter. It has a small ecological footprint, requires no filter replacement, can be pulled or carried, runs on alternating or direct current, and uses a 100% organic solution that prevents and breaks apart polysaccharide structures to keep its internal membranes from clogging and caking. The unit weighs less than 200 pounds, and takes less than one minute to set up.
According to research, "Over half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by people suffering from illnesses linked to contaminated water usage." This issue burdened Bondurant so much that he changed the direction of the product's original intent to fulfill this greater need. Bondurant understood that CamelTrain must go way beyond simply producing clean water for emergency response purposes; he considered the extent to which it could be managed in low-income settings (using available skills and materials) for developing countries, so it was designed to be a marriage of low-tech, rugged components with ultra-high-tech membrane technology.
