An Israeli company is helping provide Gaza with clean water, by extracting it from the air.
Watergen has developed atmospheric water generators that can produce 5,000 to 6,000 litres of drinking water per day, depending on the air’s humidity.
Gaza, which is home to two million people, suffers from water shortages and only 3% of the territory’s own water meets international standards, according to the United Nations.
Gaza’s overused aquifer has been degraded by saltwater intrusion and contaminated by pollutants, making most available water salty and dangerous to drink and forcing the import of bottled water.
Watergen’s CEO Mikhail Mirilashvili said in an interview with AFP: “Our goal was that everyone on Earth could be supplied with drinkable water… It was immediately clear that we had to help our neighbours first”.
Watergen’s technology is suited to Gaza because it runs on solar panels. The company has donated two machines, which cost $61,000 each, to Gaza.
After capturing humidity, the machine condenses it into water and then filters it into instantly drinkable water. When the air’s humidity level is above 65%, Watergen’s machines can produce about 5,000 litres of drinking water per day. An additional 1,000 litres can be produced when the humidity level exceeds 90%.
