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There is a simple solution to the rising cost of gas at the pumps, and it is as close as your kitchen sink. No, I don't propose installing your kitchen sink in your car, unless you plan on washing dishes while you drive.

But take the tap water from your kitchen sink, and put that in your car, and we have our solution.

*What?* you say, scratching your head in confusion. *This isn't 'Star Trek'!* Relax. I'm not proposing a futuristic design for a car. This isn't a water car. But I am talking about water as fuel. There is technology available today, that has actually been around for nearly a hundred years, that would allow your existing car to use water as fuel.

Think of it this way. Water contains fuel already. What is water? Two parts oxygen to one part hydrogen. Hydrogen is a gas, right? And gas is flammable. And your car is an internal combustion engine, which means it runs when something inside it is exploding. Not blowing your car up, just *burning*. Gas burns in your engine when exposed to oxygen and a spark from your spark plugs.

So, how to get the hydrogen in water to explode in your engine (okay, *burn* might be a safer word to use. I don't want you picturing in your mind your car blowing up!). By using a process to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in water, then reintroducing it to oxygen in the engine, the hydrogen burns, thereby producing the energy your car's engine needs to run. water as fuel, simply put.

After the hydrogen burns with the oxygen, the original oxygen returns to the air. How environmentally friendly is that? What's more, when the hydrogen mixes with the new oxygen inside the engine, to create energy, because hydrogen and oxygen are reunited, you are left with water coming out of your tailpipe! Pure, safe water as fuel.

There are some claimants out there who say that they have ways of producing engines that run all the way water as fuel, with no gas needed in the mixture. This is true, that technology does exist. But what they don't tell you is that you would need to have a carful of water in containers to run the engine. Where would anyone sit? Unless you want to drive a water truck around (not very sexy), then that would not be a suitable alternative for the *everyperson.*

Then there are the water as fuel conversion kits going for anywhere from $900 to $1500 on the market. Who wants to spend that much money, when we are already spending that much at the pump? The idea is to start saving money, not spending it, right?

Don't worry. There are alternatives to these expensive versions of the water as fuel solutions. There are low-cost kits on the market that you can use to do-it-yourself, by simply visiting your local hardware or grocery store, picking up the parts you need, and allowing your existing engine to use water as fuel. And no, your car won't appear in a *Star Trek* movie anytime soon.