We have all heard about how difficult it is for people to access clean water in many developing countries, with people walking miles every day to collect some.
All sorts of low-tech technologies have been developed, from people riding bicycles to pump water to Bill Gates’s famous toilet that converts wastewater to drinking water. Most of them don’t work in the end because either they are too complicated, or require people to find a water source.
The Smithsonian published an article on an inspiring invention that just might work – it literally draws water from the air.
Developed by industrial designers Arturo Vittori and Andreas Vogler, Warka Water can collect over 25 gallons of clean drinking water each day. It looks like a 30-foot-tall vase and every detail has a function.
Smithsonian explains it this way:
"The rigid outer housing of each tower is comprised of lightweight and elastic juncus stalks, woven in a pattern that offers stability in the face of strong wind gusts while still allowing air to flow through. A mesh net made of nylon or polypropylene, which calls to mind a large Chinese lantern, hangs inside, collecting droplets of dew that form along the surface. As cold air condenses, the droplets roll down into a container at the bottom of the tower. The water in the container then passes through a tube that functions as a faucet, carrying the water to those waiting on the ground."
Even in the desert, the tower works because condensation occurs based on the difference in temperature between nightfall and daybreak, where they can vary as much as 50 degrees F, Vittori says.
It’s easy to clean and can be erected in about a week without special tools. And at $500, it’s less than a quarter of the price for a Gates toilet.
Vittori is looking for an investor to mass produce Warka Water towers.
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