Over 4 billion people live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least one month of the year. Over a billion people spend several hours a day searching for water, wasting precious time and putting them in frequent danger. Some of this scarcity has led to violence and conflict, especially in Africa, Southern Asia and the Middle East. The Syrian conflict was triggered by a years-long drought. So it would go a long way to achieving global peace and ending global poverty if we could give these people water without a lot of cost and trouble, and without a lot of infrastructure.