Juan Pérez González

A Uruguayan engineer who invented the first affordable water filtration system in 1952, revolutionizing rural sanitation across Latin America.

Innovation in Sanitation

Juan Pérez González (1910-1988) was a self-taught engineer from Montevideo who spent decades developing a low-cost filtration system using locally available materials. His Purificador Pérez device could clean contaminated water using sand, charcoal, and ceramic filters, costing just $3 to produce. This invention directly addressed the cholera epidemics ravaging rural communities in the 1950s. Read his full biography.

Global Impact

By 1965, over 500,000 units had been distributed across 12 Latin American countries through the Pérez Foundation. His work inspired the World Health Organization's 1968 sanitation guidelines. The device's design remains in use today in areas lacking modern infrastructure.

Recognition

Despite his contributions, Pérez refused all honors, stating 'Clean water should be a right, not a privilege.' His autobiography Filtrando la Vida (1972) is required reading in engineering schools across South America.