Besides the wonderful team of people I get to work with, one of the best aspects of working with the newservice ISRAEL21c is that they le” me report on environment news and breakthroughs. Their support of the environment started about 5 years ago, when not a single paper in Israel was covering the beat. One of the most exciting stories I’ve got to cover lately is that of EWA.
A Green Prophet writer dug up the story (reporting on their solar air conditioning project), and by the time I’d contacted them the business had changed focus. Here is their story on a water collecting solution that promises to democratize the uneven distribution of the world’s fresh water resources:
For Dr. Etan Bar, CEO of EWA, it was a question of priorities. His company, which focuses both on solar energy and clean water extraction from the air, had already developed a new solar energy air conditioner that was sparking interest in the industry, but Bar realized that clean water was a far more pressing need.
He put aside the air conditioner and began working on a new technology that could collect humidity naturally present in the air and turn it into clean water.
It sounds like a far-fetched idea, but it’s actually thousands of years old. It was mentioned in the Bible and in ancient Jewish prayers, and archaeologists still find the stones Israelite farmers used thousands of years ago to collect dew for watering their crops.
The technology is the key
Essentially EWA (which stands for Extraction of Water from Air), has developed a clean technology that extracts water from the air, while using little energy in the process. The key is in its unique water adsorption technology – which employs a solid desiccant to trap the water – and a special energy saving condenser that reuses more than 85 percent of the energy input to the system.
Renewable energy sources, such as solar power, biofuel, waste heat or even the heat from organic matter are compatible with the system.
The company, which was founded in 2006, is based on nine years of research by Bar, a former researcher at Ben Gurion University. The company now has representatives in the US, India, Jordan, Cyprus, Australia and West Africa where EWA is helping farmers generate carbon credits, on top of providing them with clean water for drinking and irrigating their crops.
A video of EWA tech in progress
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XagiJToQpyA[/youtube]
The technology, Bar tells ISRAEL21c, works in three steps: first is the absorption of air’s humidity, then the removal of water from a solid desiccant (silica based gel granules) which holds the water, and third, condensation. The absorption of the humidity is an exothermic process (involving heat release), humidity absorption occurs spontaneously, and only minimal energy is used as the air is pumped through the unit. Heat recovery techniques are integrated as part of the condenser, reducing the cost for producing water to a reasonable price, similar to other processes, such as desalination.
Water is not created equal
Making use of renewable energy sources enables EWA to supply water at cheaper cost because the need for long distance piping and infrastructure (the water consumer is the water producer) is erased from the equation.
In countries like America and Canada where freshwater is abundant, people take long showers for granted. Today in less fortunate developing and even developed nations – such as Cyprus — the cost of water is so high that even in 4-star hotels water to the shower taps is being turned off, Bar tells ISRAEL21c, after a recent experience on the Cypriot island. There a cubic meter of water costs 6 Euros, because it is transported all the way from Greece.
To compare – according to the US-based Global Policy Forum, the average American household consumes about 480 cubic meters (127 thousand gallons) of water during a year. While homeowners in Washington D.C. pay about $350 a year (72 cents per cubic meter), buying the same amount of water in the slums of Guatemala City would cost about $2,000.
More than a drop in the bucket
Even though clean water for drinking and bathing seems like a basic human right, for most of the worlds’ poor it is a luxury. EWA hopes to change that: “One cubic kilometer of air contains 10 to 40 thousand tons of water — enough to supply at least 100 thousand people with all their water needs, or enough ‘safe’ drinking water for two million,” Bar explains. EWA’s device, can be scaled up or down, and will produce anywhere from a few hundred liters of water per day to 1,000 cubic meters of water in a single plant.
The company, which employs 12, is currently operated out of Beersheba, Israel. Last year was the first year the company reported its earnings, at about $100,000, while this year, it predicts sales upwards of $5 million, and $100 million for 2009, mainly due to growing demand from Africa, India and Australia. The bottleneck right now is being able to supply demand, says Bar.
As global warming heats the world, and its population continues to grow, there is less water for everyone: “Due to the effectiveness at extremely wide ranges of environmental conditions and due to its low energy consumption, huge water plants could be built and operated using the novel EWA technology,” says Bar. “The technology answers the world’s desires for available, clean and safe water – without air pollution from energy production – and expensive infrastructure,” he concludes.
For more solar energy inventions featured on Green Prophet, see:
A Quick Guide to Solar Energy Companies
FZE To Build Largest Solar Energy Plant in Dubai
Hope Floats With Geotectura’s Solar Energy Balloons
Aytec Avnim’s Solar Powered Clothes Dryer
Reprinted courtesy of ISRAEL21c.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]
Buoyancy helps reduce the pressure on the abdomen, making your contractions more efficient, and being in water enables
you to move easily in to different positions. A good use of props such as milk bottles and rattles, plus a range of skin colours, gestures and sounds can all be easily manipulated to enhance the experience
of a virtual baby. Not only you have to have the idea on how
to take care of newborn baby, but you should make sure that you gather as
much information as you possibly can about caring for a
newborn.
Thanks so much for sharing. My cousin has been looking for an air conditioning company. Do you by chance know a good one?
This is a fascinating article. We don’t really think about water shortage in this country. But I imagine an invention like this, were it implemented worldwide, particularly in developing countries, would be a huge boon for people and for global economy. More jobs for
plumber, more laundromats, more clean clothing. More clean everything, really. You guys keep up the good work.
This almost seems like some kind of idea from a sci-fi movie, but I think it’s really neat. If it can be done like described it would be an excellent solution to a lot of today’s current problems.
That air conditioner on that video is way big and it looks pretty powerful. Air conditioning is a great thing to have becuase people are always getting way to hot and they want to cool down. But you need to make sure that your air conditioner is very efficient
Dear Mr Karin Kloosterman,In breif, outstanding. Would like to know more about and if so also get involved.
Great idea. great post. thanksMobile Air Conditioning
Great idea. great post. thanksMobile Air Conditioning
Great idea. great post. thanks
Hi Steven,
As the author of this article, and the editor of this site, I’d be curious to know why you consider historical facts, and religious traditions from the region to be “religious political propaganda”?
I personally find the stories told to me by the company’s founder to be elegant, beautiful, connected to this land and sense of place, and deeply inspiring.
And I think others have too –– since reading my piece, Reuters has sent out a film crew to interview the company.
– Karin
there needs to be a warning on such religious political propaganda
religious insanity ,
Great Idea! Wonderful project!!
This is a priority for many countries and millions of families around the world…
To be able to take all the most humid places in the world and create drinkable water out of it for both people and crops – what a miracle! What type of stones were used thousands of years ago to catch the dew?