In world first, Israeli know-how helps India village get water from air.
Machines produced in Israel can provide a thirsty village with water from the air (23 February, 2009. Jerusalem Post)
By
Ehud Zion Waldoks
The air we breathe can also be the water we drink. This simple yet radical new concept has begun to gain momentum in the past few years.
Several companies have developed technologies to transform the moisture in the air into drinking water. Two of them, self-described world leader Air Water Corporation and startup EWA (Earth, Water, Air) Technologies Group, utilize Israeli know-how and manufacturing to provide solutions aimed primarily at destitute Third World villages.
In a major breakthrough, Jalimudi, in India's Andhra Pradesh state, became the first village in the world to get its water directly from the air last week. Air Water Corporation and its partner, WaterMaker India (PVT) Ltd., in conjunction with the Indian government, provided the villagers with a machine that will supply all of their drinking, washing and cooking needs. The Indian government will provide the electricity to run the machine. The village, in India's southeastern hinterland, lies far from water pipelines.
Both Air Water Corporation and EWA hope to develop a lucrative market that could provide a real solution for remote villages. While desalination plants are more suitable to close Israel's water deficit, blue-and-white technology could help hundreds of thousands in Africa, Asia and South America, where infrastructure is scarce and water is becoming ever scarcer.
With climate change drying up the world's water and causing erratic rainfall, the air-water machines could prove to be a major asset. In India, many wells have either dried up or become contaminated, forcing villagers to walk for kilometers to get water. Air Water Corporation's product promises a clean, immediately available resource.
"This is the first village where we have officially become the water company supplying water to 600 people. Hundreds of people lined up to get water," company president Michael Zwebner told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend. Zwebner was born in Israel and divides his time between the UK and the US.
While the original technology is based on US patents, "they were developed and enhanced in Israel, and the machines themselves are manufactured in Jerusalem," he said.
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