Can a daily supply of fresh water really be extracted from the air?
That's what Joseph Cory and Eyal Malka, two PhD students from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, claim. The duo recently conceived of "WatAir," a contraption that has the science community buzzing.
“WatAir” consists of an array of light-weight, flexible panels arranged in an inverted pyramid that collects moisture particles from the air and turns it into fresh water in almost any climate. The concept is extraordinarily simple: just hoist the structure into the air and let dew and condensation form along the surface of the panels. The moisture then trickles into a container, where it is stored for drinking or for agricultural purposes.
The inventors say a 315-square foot WatAir unit can extract a minimum of 48 litres of fresh water from the air each day. And, depending on the number of units, an unlimited daily supply of water could be produced even in remote and polluted places, they claim.
A 315-square foot WatAir unit can extract a minimum of 48 litres of fresh water from the air each day.
The students' invention, which is still in the design phase, took top prize from among 100 other entries in the "Drawing Water Challenge" sponsored by the global engineering and design firm Arup and Water Aid.
The
annual contest aims to bring to the fore inventors’ ingenious ideas for tackling one of the world’s most entrenched problems: dwindling access to safe drinking water. The United Nations predicts that by 2050, more than 2 billion people will be faced with a dire water scarcity problem. One of the worst hit areas today is Cory and Malka’s parched home region in the Middle East. A low-cost and effective way to increase access to safe drinking water in Israel, Palestine and Jordan is considered crucial to maintaining any semblance of economic and political stability in the already shaky region.
“WatAir” could be a good start. The judges were mightily impressed with the concept. "This is a simple and effective idea using tried and tested technology," competition judge Jo da Silva commented.
"We looked at the spider web and the water on leafs for inspiration," the duo explain on their
website. "Our water web is a social design inspired by nature through its symbiotic relationship both with nature and rural dwellings and can be easily deployed within the eccentric environments as well as deployment on rooftops in dense cities."
Being architecture students, “WatAir” was designed to be practical and aesthetically pleasing on a community level. Concept photos show the device set up in public places, affording shade to playing children. The design of the canopy prevents the loss of moisture to vaporisation, the duo explain, and also offers protection from the sun and rain for people directly underneath.
Cory and Malka even consider the energy-generating potential of such a device. “Optional PV elastic panels can produce clean and free energy along side the dew and rain collection in order to supply all the energy needed for the other basic necessities,” they say.
Another project the duo is working on is a radical remake of a photovoltaic (solar power) energy source. Rather than plant the solar panels on rooftops, the idea would be to launch helium-filled photovoltaic saucers into the air to collect solar energy and convert it into electricity.
For that design, they were runner-up in a separate competition.
Bernhard Warner is a technology reporter based in Rome. He is the former European Internet Correspondent for Reuters and, prior to that was a senior editor at The Industry Standard. His work has appeared in Wired, The Times Online, Time and The Guardian, to name a few. He also works as a Web 2.0 consultant for Custom Communication
Published on 19 June 2007
