- Title: Chilean startup builds machine to pull clean water from air
- Date: 21st July 2017
- Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (JULY 20, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CO-FOUNDER OF "FRESHWATER" HECTOR PINO, SAYING: "We are currently working on the installation of (water) systems in El Salvador in rural schools close to San Salvador. We are checking the area of La Guajira with the Colombian Foreign Ministry together with Socialab Colombia (start up) and we are seeing where we can install systems in the El Chaco area of Argentina alongside other organisations so as to help the indigenous Wayu community. It will allow us to install (the machine) in the deep jungle, areas which have been isolated, the roads are narrow and people have no access to drinking water." WATER FROM MACHINE BEING USED TO FILL A GLASS FINGER ON BUTTON TO PROVIDE WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CO-FOUNDER OF "FRESHWATER" HECTOR PINO, SAYING: "In Chile there are 38,000 areas with no access to water. 75% of them have no solution (to the water) problem that exists around the country. There are 40,000 families without access to water. So, you start to think that it's not real, you start to see it in 10, 15 years and it is the same number of people (without water) and without a solution. So you say to yourself, 'there is a problem, a basic need and we at Freshwater have come to solve this basic need and innovation can resolve the most basic need of life'. It's not about going to the moon for water if water is here." WATER FROM TAP FILLING UP GLASS
- Embargoed: 4th August 2017 21:47
- Keywords: clean water drinking water Chilean company rural access to water poor areas wine Freshwater air humidity condensation atmospheric water purified water water solution
- Location: SANTIAGO AND CACHIYUYO, CHILE
- City: SANTIAGO AND CACHIYUYO, CHILE
- Country: USA
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0056QNVOEB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A start up in Chile has built a machine that can literally get fresh water out of thin air, with a fog-harvesting system that could change the lives of communities high up in the country's Andes.
Called Freshwater, the machine is a homemade solution for communities with no regular access to water. With the Andes chain of mountains traversing Chile, authorities have been unable to connect the country's water grid to many rural towns. As a result locals have had to improvise, often paying for expensive water trucks to come up the Andes.
Hector Pino of Freshwater says his machine mimics nature with a portable fog-harvesting system. The mechanics of the machine creates a small cloud in the machine, which is used to extract water. The water then passes through a filtration system to make it suitable to drink straight from the tap.
According to the inventors, there are different models of the Freshwater unit that can hold up to 30 litres of water and which can be fitted with solar panels for areas with no electricity. With the potential to change the lives of many across Chile and the region, interest in the invention has been strong with installation projects lined up in El Salvador and Colombia.
With an estimated 34 million people across Latin America and the Caribbean without access to clean water, this Chilean start up wants to take its invention worldwide. Its crowdfunding appeal on Indiegogo wants to raise $500,000 to send out the Freshwater units to the driest regions of Earth. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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