Water generator for the Third World
A water generator that can be run on solar cells for use in the Third World has been developed by students at KTH, Luleå University of Technology and Lund University Faculty of Engineering, together with a student group at Stanford University, USA.
This machine retrieves drinking water from the surrounding air and even works well in environments with relatively low levels of humidity. The product concept comes from the company Immerse Global in San Diego, USA and is based on a vision of providing solar cell-powered water generation machines in the Third World.
The student group developed their product during the last academic year and presented the prototype in USA in June this year. This project was part of a course at Stanford and was considered to be one of their best products and won the highest possible grade.
Previously several attempts have been made to develop atmospheric water generators based on traditional dehumidifying techniques. Even if the prototype is currently run on electricity from a normal wall socket, it is theoretically possible to run the generator from a solar cell totally without external connections.
The project was organized and partially financed by PIEp, the Product Innovation Engineering Program, a Swedish national R&D programme based at KTH.
More information: Martin Grimheden
Christer Gummeson