Village gets 'water from air' in technological breakthrough

by Rich Bowden - Mar 10 2009, 05:54

The village of Jalimudi, in India's southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, has became the first in the world to collect its supply of water from the humidity in the air.

Using technology developed by the U.S. company AirWater Corp., the village now can get its water from tanks where water is collected from the air instead of having to rely on walking a great distance to source water supplies.

Michael Zwebner, president of Air Water Corp. said in a company statement: "We are making history. This project is now real and the local inhabitants of Jalimudi have immediate and constant access to clean, clear and pure water 24x7.''

The company is able to make water-collecting machines that produce from 25 litres to over 5,000 litres of pure, filtered drinking water for villages where clean, safe drinking water is unavailable or not sourced locally. At $100,000 USD per machine, the company says the project is affordable with government assistance.

AirWater Corp., through its Indian partner WaterMaker India (PVT) Ltd, has entered into such an agreement with the Indian government, which has agreed to provide electricity for the functioning of the water-collecting generator to supply the Jalimudi villagers with all their drinking, cooking and washing needs. 

"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," said Zwebner in an February 22 interview with the Jerusalem Post. However, although Jalimudi was the first village to be installed with the company's machine, Zwebner said the technology had been tried and tested.

"We have supplied units to the U.S. Marines, the Chinese Navy, and the South African Army. In Bolivia and Venezuela, we've shipped units to hospitals for use instead of poor quality tap water," he told the Post.

The technology works by using refrigeration techniques to condense water from the air and relies on the level of humidity in the air to produce water. According to the company, optimum conditions are when humidity reaches 55 percent or above; however, the machine will still produce water at lower levels of humidity, but not as quickly or in as much quantity.

The Florida-based company's atmospheric water generator has the potential to replace sources of drinking water in villages such as Jalimudi where climate change and contamination have forced villagers to source water from increasingly long distances.

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