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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/startups-producing-drinkable-water-from-air-awg/>
"Blistering suns, endless dunes and almost no water. This is the imagined world
on the planet Tatooine in Star Wars. Here, survival depends upon towering
vaporators that loom over the sand, drawing in air and condensing its moisture
into life-giving water.
But this technology isn’t just limited to the world of science fiction. “That
reality is here. We’re already making that happen,” says Brian Sheng,
co-founder of Aquaria Technologies, whose mission is to transform atmospheric
vapor into safe, drinkable water.
There is no doubt that the world needs more water. On a planet that’s covered
in approximately 70 percent water, only a sliver, around 2.5 percent, is fresh
and safe for humans to drink, crops to grow and industrial use. And that tiny
proportion is shrinking as the world becomes warmer and heat waves exacerbate
drought conditions.
This isn’t just a problem of the future. A World Health Organization study
estimates that 1.4 million deaths could be prevented each year with improved
access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Sheng’s solution, to generate potable water from air, is based upon a natural
phenomenon as old as the Earth itself. As water evaporates off oceans, lakes
and other bodies of water, it turns into an invisible vapor that drifts through
the atmosphere until cooler temperatures condense it into water droplets. To
tap into that, Aquaria has invented a twenty-first century version of the
vaporator — an atmospheric water generator (AWG).
Aquaria’s AWG units are designed for home use. They suck in air and cool it so
that it condenses into water droplets, then purify it to meet health standards.
Small enough to be placed in a backyard and connected to a home’s existing
plumbing system, large units can produce up to 200 gallons of water daily. To
put this into context, while estimates vary significantly, the EPA suggests
each American uses an average of 82 gallons of water a day for activities
including bathing, drinking, and cooking.
Condensing water at scale, however, comes at a cost. Aquaria’s Hydropixel, for
example, which produces up to 10 gallons of water a day, costs approximately
$3,800. To make clean water more accessible, Aquaria offers flexible payment
plans to help ease the initial cost of its systems. And to reduce the expense
of running the units on conventional grid electricity, the units can be
connected to existing home solar systems.
In Australia. Aqua Ubique, realizing that cost can be prohibitive — especially
for First Nations communities — has structured its company as a social
enterprise. Through its Drop 4 Drop program, for every five Aqua Ubique AWG
water cooler units leased to offices or business, one can be installed in a
community that lacks clean drinking water. The units look like and function the
same as a regular water cooler, except they are pulling in water from the
surrounding air and converting it to drinking water."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
