With water conservation being such an important issue for all responsible citizens today, inventions such as this one come as an applause worthy surprise: it is a device that taps a hitherto unexploited resource for fresh water; the air. The Warka Water Tower literally pulls water out of thin air! The invention has won the World Design Impact Prize at the World Design Capital event in Taipei and with good reason.
The Warka Water Tower
The Warka Water Tower is the brainchild of Italian Arturo Vittori of Architecture and Vision, a design studio involved in art, architecture, product and transportation design which concerns itself with creating ecological and economic solutions for communities. The designers observed natural processes that allowed plants such as cacti and termite hives to collect water in harsh environments. This tower, made from simple, locally sourced materials is designed to leech water out of the atmosphere – essentially it captures condensation form the air – from dew, fog and rain, much in the same way.
The actual structure is made from materials such as recyclable mesh, ropes and a canopy mounted on a bamboo frame and connected to a water collection tank. Reportedly the structure takes a few days and just six people to assemble, and can collect up to one hundred litres of drinking water in a day.
It’s possible implications for India
This particular project has created a drinking water resource for the Dorze community in Ethiopia, a country that struggles with poverty and where less than half the population is able to access clean and potable water. In India, where the sheer pressure of population creates demand and where polluted water sources are constantly shrinking access to clean water, the possibilities presented by the Warka Water Tower are not just tantalizing but actually promising.
The tower is inexpensive to assemble and maintain, and water collected requires no further purification. The designers are working on creating a small water efficient vegetable growing patch at the foot of the tower, which could further expand its utility. Further research and development is ongoing and it is estimated that in a few years the whole process of setting up these towers will be so simplified and streamlined that it will require no machinery or scaffolding to set up.
Those interested in contributing to the project can do so via the AV website or via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter (where nearly half of the pledged $100,000 goal is already met by backers). Watch the video to know how the Warka Water Tower works.
