According a report on CNN, an Israeli company, Water-Gen, has developed a device that uses an extremely efficient process to remove the humidity from the air and store it as clean, drinkable water—in other words, creating water out of thin air.
“The clean air enters our GENius heat exchanger system where it is dehumidified, the water is removed from the air and collected in a collection tank inside the unit,” says co-CEO Arye Kohavi.
“From there the water is passed through an extensive water filtration system which cleans it from possible chemical and microbiological contaminations,” he explains. “The clean purified water is stored in an internal water tank which is kept continuously preserved to keep it at high quality over time.”
The device was originally developed for the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been sold to militaries in seven other countries. The technology for capturing humidity isn’t new, but the advantage of Water-Gen’s device is its efficiency. According to Kochavi, “it uses two cents’ worth of electricity to produce a liter of water.”
Kochavi also observed that his company’s technology would be very useful in India, and that “Water-Gen’s units can produce a liter of water for 1.5 Rupees, as opposed to 15 Rupees for a liter of bottled water.”
A nation with 60 percent desert, Israel has established itself as an international leader in water technology. Israeli advances in technologies such as desalination, monitoring, recycling, and irrigation have helped Israel “beat the drought.” Israeli water technology and irrigation techniques are used around the world to extend the utility of existing water supplies and improve agricultural yields. Earlier this year, when he visited the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a highly publicized trip to California and signed agreements with Governor Jerry Brown to provide Israeli know-how to help alleviate that state’s water crisis. Israeli technology is employed in a number of other states too, to help them make the most of their water supplies.
Though many refuse to acknowledge it, Israeli water technology has also benefited the Palestinians, as Akiva Bigman demonstrated in The Myth of the Thirsty Palestinian in the April 2014 issue of The Tower Magazine.
[Photo: Arye Kochavi / YouTube ]