Machine uses humidity to turn air into clean water
It’s a devil’s pact: The gleaming rays of sunshine this time of year come hand-in-hand with bodydrenching humidity. But what if that humidity could serve as a commodity for our current and future water needs in South Florida and beyond? What if clean water could be created … right out of air?
A niche industry has emerged in recent years to do just this, and a small Cooper City company, with access to all the suffocating humidity they could ever want, is a key player.
Atmospheric Water Solutions or AWS, sits in a very unassuming office park, but since 2012 they have been tinkering with a very remarkable product. They dub it the AquaBoy Pro. Now in its second generation (the AquaBoy Pro II), it is one of the only atmospheric water generators available to the everyday buyer on the market in places such as Target or Home Depot.
Atmospheric water generator sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. But Reid Goldstein, the executive vice president of AWS who took over in 2015, says the basic technology traces back to the development of air conditioners and dehumidifiers. “It’s essentially dehumidification technology with modern science thrown in.”
The device’s sleek exterior resembles a water cooler without the cooler and costs upward of $1,665.
It functions by drawing in air from the outside. In places with high humidity, that air brings plenty of water vapor along with it. The warm vapor makes contact with cooled stainless steel coils inside, and, similar to that inconvenient water that drips from your air conditioning unit, condensation is created. The water is collected and cycled through seven layers of high-grade filtering until it comes out the tap in EPAcertified, clean drinking water.
The amount depends on the humidity in the air, and where the device is located. Put in your garage or somewhere you’ll get more.
Stick it in your kitchen with the air conditioner going and it will make slightly less. According to Goldstein, the device requires anywhere from 28% to 95% humidity, and temperatures between 55 degrees and 110 degrees to function.
You can see why somewhere like South Florida is ideal. About three quarters of the 1,000 units sold so far have gone to homes and offices here or in similarly humid areas around the country, as well as global locales known for their stifling air like Qatar, Puerto Rico, Honduras and the Bahamas.
The other portion of sales have come from bigger devices the company is continuing to tinker with, which can make anywhere from 30 to 3,000 gallons of clean water a day and have the potential to service far more dire global needs.
Juan Sebastian Chaquea is a global project manager at AWS. His previous title was project manager at FEMA, where he dealt with the management of homes, shelters and transitional housing during disasters.
“In emergency management, the first things you have to cover are food, shelter and water. But all of those things are useless if you don’t have water,” he said.
Chaquea’s previous job taught him about the logistical challenges of transporting bottled water. It is heavy, which makes it costly to ship.
It also requires bodies to move and transport once it arrives to a disaster area, which tends to leave people in harder-to-reach areas without access for days. It also easily contaminates when left in the sun for too long.
Chaquea joined AWS this year because he believes the development of atmospheric water generator technology could help solve those issues — and ultimately save lives.
“Being able to bring water to people allows them to have the number one thing they need for survival,” he said. outside and