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The collectedwater travels through a
five-level treatment system, including a
UVfilter, tomake it safe to drink. Currently,
each turbine can produce up to 1,500 liters
of drinkingwater every day, but Eole hopes
each onewill eventually provide between
20,000 and 25,000 liters a day, enough to
support entire cities.
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Once electricity is available, amachine
similar to a hair dryer pushes hot air across
hundreds of chilled pieces of stainless
steel alloy. The same principle thatmakes
yourmirror steamup during a hot shower
causeswater droplets to bead up on the
pieces of steel.
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
AUGUST 2012
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ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES PROVOST
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CREATING DRINKINGWATER
OUT OF THIN AIR
In addition to oppressive regimes and
roving criminal bands, dystopian movies
have long traded on our collective fear of
water scarcity. And with close to a fi h of
the world’s population now living in areas
without enough water,
that
particular
specter becomes more of a reality every day.
Fortunately, French inventor Marc Parent is
on the job. A er being inspired by a dripping
air conditioner, he built a turbine that could
capture potable water fromwind, estab-
lished a company, Eole Water, and began
testing his prototypes amid some of
the ho est, driest weather condi-
tions on earth. “We wanted it to
be a challenge,” says Thibault
Janin, a spokesman for Eole.
“In French, the saying is ‘If the
training is difficult, the war will
be easy.’” Here’s how they did it.
BY JACQUELINE DETWILER
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Removingwater from the air requires
electricity, which can be hard to come by
in areas without an established power
grid. The turbine takes care of that prob-
lemby harnessing the energy of wind via
a shaft connected to a generator.
HOW IT’S DONE
INNOVATION BUSINESS GADGETS
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