| Newswise — An architect
pursuing a PhD at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his
colleague have devised a low-tech way to collect dew from the air and
turn it into fresh water. Their invention recently won an international
competition seeking to make clean, safe water available to millions
around the world. The brainchild of Technion Architecture and Building
Planning grad student Joseph Cory and his colleague Eyal Malka, “WatAir,”
is an inverted pyramid array of panels that collects dew from the air
and turns it into fresh water in almost any climate.
Inspired by the dew-collecting properties of leaves, one 315 sq ft
unit can extract a minimum of 48 liters of fresh water from the air each
day. Depending on the number of collectors used, an unlimited daily
supply of water could be produced even in remote and polluted places.
According to Cory, WatAir can be easily incorporated into both rural
and urban landscapes because it has a relatively small base. Its
vertical and diagonal design utilizes gravity to increase the collection
areas. The panels are flexible and easy to collapse when not in use, and
provide shelter from rain and heat and play areas for children.
“WatAir is a wonderfully simple concept which draws its inspiration
from nature,” said competition judge Jo da Silva. “This is a simple and
effective idea using tried and tested technology.”
The project was selected from 100 entries from North America, Europe,
Africa and Asia as the winner of the “drawing water challenge” sponsored
by Arup – a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business
consultants specializing in innovative and sustainable design.
Geotectura and Malka Architects, the respective architectural studios
of Cory and Malka, are located in Haifa, Israel.
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel's leading
science and technology university. Home to the country’s winners of the
Nobel Prize in science, it commands a worldwide reputation for its
pioneering work in nanotechnology, computer science, biotechnology,
water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and
medicine. The majority of the founders and managers of Israel's
high-tech companies are alumni. Based in New York City, the American
Technion Society is the leading American organization supporting higher
education in Israel, with 17 offices around the country. |