Simple, Low-Tech Water from Air
I've been looking for potable water solutions for the school we are designing and helping to build in Niger (no electricity and almost no water).
An architect pursuing a PhD at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his colleague have devised a low-tech way to collect dew from the air and turn it into fresh water. Their invention recently won an international competition seeking to make clean, safe water available to millions around the world.
This photo is from the Open Architecture Network, here
The brainchild of Technion Architecture and Building Planning grad student Joseph Cory and his colleague Eyal Malka, “WatAir,” is an inverted pyramid array of panels that collects dew from the air and turns it into fresh water in almost any climate.
Inspired by the dew-collecting properties of leaves, one 315 sq ft unit can extract a minimum of 48 liters of fresh water from the air each day. Depending on the number of collectors used, an unlimited daily supply of water could be produced even in remote and polluted places.
According to Cory, WatAir can be easily incorporated into both rural and urban landscapes because it has a relatively small base. Its vertical and diagonal design utilizes gravity to increase the collection areas. The panels are flexible and easy to collapse when not in use, and provide shelter from rain and heat and play areas for children.
“WatAir is a wonderfully simple concept which draws its inspiration from nature,” said competition judge Jo da Silva. “This is a simple and effective idea using tried and tested technology.”
The project was selected from 100 entries from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia as the winner of the “drawing water challenge” sponsored by Arup – a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants specializing in innovative and sustainable design.
Their website: http://www.wataireinternational.com
An architect pursuing a PhD at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his colleague have devised a low-tech way to collect dew from the air and turn it into fresh water. Their invention recently won an international competition seeking to make clean, safe water available to millions around the world.
This photo is from the Open Architecture Network, here
The brainchild of Technion Architecture and Building Planning grad student Joseph Cory and his colleague Eyal Malka, “WatAir,” is an inverted pyramid array of panels that collects dew from the air and turns it into fresh water in almost any climate.
Inspired by the dew-collecting properties of leaves, one 315 sq ft unit can extract a minimum of 48 liters of fresh water from the air each day. Depending on the number of collectors used, an unlimited daily supply of water could be produced even in remote and polluted places.
According to Cory, WatAir can be easily incorporated into both rural and urban landscapes because it has a relatively small base. Its vertical and diagonal design utilizes gravity to increase the collection areas. The panels are flexible and easy to collapse when not in use, and provide shelter from rain and heat and play areas for children.
“WatAir is a wonderfully simple concept which draws its inspiration from nature,” said competition judge Jo da Silva. “This is a simple and effective idea using tried and tested technology.”
The project was selected from 100 entries from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia as the winner of the “drawing water challenge” sponsored by Arup – a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants specializing in innovative and sustainable design.
Their website: http://www.wataireinternational.com
Views: 303
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by somasekhar on -
It is excellent madam, but the dew formed has the tendency to get contaminated by the dust collected
from blowing air, to be checked at your project site.
potable water should contain some essential minerals , normally they were present in ground water.
I think we can add them if desired.It is better to check the relative humidity and temperature variation between day and night in that location that decides the dew formation.
If ground water is available, The cheap and best method is using two level sedimentation and purification
by using alum and chlorine and adding a charcoal filter at the end.
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Permalink Reply by oz on -
the commercial unit does not carry an energy star label..the implication is Green but not so..
when one product is shown without other methods we are often misled by singular focus .Most unprofessional
if this product is to be displayed it must be in the Public interest Our Oath ..incidently is to Public Health and safety not Profit
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Permalink Reply by oz on
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atmospheric water generator technology was designed by and for the military ...when this product is required in an emergency the amount of fuel required to run it will not be available to the Public.
can you e
imagine running a huge refrigerator and holding a cup of plastic at the drain tube waiting for Summer humidity to show up then only a few more hours for the cup to fill
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a little truth never hurt ....this is not the time or place for bs
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Permalink Reply by oz on
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I also feel there is a lot of disinformation out there as to the products these people (refer to above) are selling as a wonder-product, where in reality it is not what it seems, and in essence may not be suited at all to our country and/or climate (i.e. NICE DOESN'T CUT IT WASTE OF TIME ?). Thus we have a lot of expectation and very little delivery and real info.
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Permalink Reply by May Michaely on -
This is a very cool idea! I especially like that this was invented in one water lacking area (Israel) and can be applied and utilized in many other parts of the world (such as Niger). It's another example of how we can all work (and benefit) as one community and not as isolated states.
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on -
Hi May, thanks for your comment and I agree - cooperation and sharing are definitely the way forward.
To me, that means that something fair has to be worked out for the owners of intellectual property, whether they make something for the greater good (as in the above instance) or developed life-saving medical drugs or eco-technologies at great expense. India has a plan to pool money and buy rights from various companies so the drugs or technology can be freely or cheaply available to the poor. They cannot pay $300 for a medicine, so we need to work together as a single community on many levels.
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Permalink Reply by oz on
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THE INTELLIGENT USE OF WATER
http://www.iuowfilm.com/?gclid=CIXr6vbC15sCFdFL5Qodn1B--A
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Permalink Reply by Katie Cordrey on -
The http://www.wataireinternational.com is a different company using the same name as the device in this article. The one above is a low-tech dew collection system.
According to Haaretz.com, "The WatAir, designed in conjunction with architect Eyal Malka, collects, filters and stores water from dew, and can be set up in areas suffering from drought or damage to their water supply due to disaster or contamination. "
The one in the website link is essentially a commercial dehumidifier that yields potable water. I can't see how they're related other than by name.
The Architectural Design Team responsible for the low-tech system is Joseph Cory of Geotectura and Eyal Malka of Malka Architects
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Permalink Reply by Remigius de Souza on -
I come across this news “extracting water out of thin air now possible”. I thought you may be interested in. Or perhaps you are already informed.
Only problem is how to get electricity?
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