AUSTIN, Texas — A veteran wants to help people recovering from natural disasters through unique creations using repurposed containers.
- LifePods can provide water, electricity, and housing
- Can generate 9,000 gallons of drinking water per month
- Group hopes to bring on 10 veterans by December
They’re called LifePods. They are big metal shipping containers which are outfitted to be able to do one of three things: house people, generate power or create water.
“We just got this thing painted and got our sticker on it and our next step is installing our water generator in it, cutting out holes for the ventilation and then we’ll be ready to ship,” said Dakota Stewart, executive director of LifePod Corps.
“These are designed for disaster areas, disaster relief. What we provide is water, electricity and housing to these areas,” Stewart said.
The company hires veterans to remodel metal containers into life-saving systems. One version creates emergency temporary housing.
“We strip these things down, if there’s any rust on them we bust that out. With the walls themselves we frame them with wood and then we put our plumbing and electric through there,” Stewart said.
Another version generates power and electricity. A third version collects moisture from the air to create drinking water. A commodity in some parts of the country.
“Newark, New Jersey is facing a lot of the same issues Flint has with lead contamination in their piping,” said Stewart.
Once it is complete and funding is secured, the water pod will be delivered do some heavy lifting in Newark.
“We can generate up to 9,000 gallons per month of clean drinking water with off-grid electricity.”
Plans to help are global, too. Another project will hopefully send a pod to the disaster-stricken Bahamas.
“Part of this is being able to see the direct impact of how many peoples’ lives we can change you know?”
LifePod Corps is actively looking for service members for the massive projects. Qualifying vets will get free training under the post-9/11 GI Bill at the American Career Institute for a number of trades. During those studies, participants will be offered part-time jobs at LifePod Corps, and once their studies are done they'll have the chance to work full time at the company.
Stewart's goal is to enroll 10 veterans by December.