A moulded pallet that can ship aid and be used as a water container has won Unicef and Socialab’s Global Innovation Challenge, The First 72 Hours.

The contest sought innovative ideas to help people in the first 72 hours after a disaster. Shaun and Moira Craill, who run west Auckland design business LoooP Creative, entered AguaPallet in the food and water category.

It’s a hollow, rotationally moulded pallet that becomes a water container once it’s reached its destination. The Craills say it offers aid agencies a way to store and transport enough water for entire families for a day and eliminates the need to dispose of old wooden pallets.

LoooP Creative will develop the design in New Zealand to a production cell kit which could be implemented in any country that experiences a disaster.

The finished design will eventually be released as an open source solution to maximise humanitarian benefits, the company says, adding anyone will be able to use the AguaPallet without paying royalties or licensing fees.

“The idea pre-dates the Christchurch earthquake, but it was our family’s experience of that which motivated us to enter the competition” says Shaun. “Our next challenge will be to find further funding from other like-minded organisations to see this great idea through to completion.”

One of the Craills will spend two weeks of in Chile for mentoring by Socialab and Unicef, to develop and implement the AguaPallet idea. They receive US$15,000 in seed funding to develop the design to eventual global production.

The competition drew 278 ideas from 50 countries. These ideas went through three phases of elimination – ideation, co-creation and a final pitch before choosing two winners.