Edmonton Student Inventors Create Filter Which Pulls Clean Drinking Water out of Thin Air
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
A team of entrepreneurs at the University of Alberta are working on a prototype that would turn moisture in the air into a reliable source of clean drinking water.
It's just a prototype for now, but Edmonton's Rutu Mehta believes the 'Aqua Caelum' system has the potential to provide millions of people around the world with access to clean drinking water.
It's much like a dehumidifier, Mehta said. Using thermodynamics, the atmospheric water generator pulls water droplets from the air and runs the water through a filtration system. The end result? Good old, easy-drinking H2O.
"It's for developing countries that don't have access to clean drinking water," Mehta said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
"It condenses the water from the air, so as hot, humid air passes over cool coils, it condenses the water molecules trapped in that air, which can be further filtered for consumption.
Image: Rutu Mehta (left) and her teammate, Jit Patel, want to bring their Aqua Caelum prototype to India.
Mehta and a group of her fellow Edmonton students will pitch their design at an upcoming competition organized by Enactus, an international non-profit comprised of students, academics and business leaders.
The organization is all about encouraging the work of student entrepreneurs, with a focus on assisting developing countries and building sustainable communities.
It currently costs upwards of $250 to make a single machine, but the design team is hoping to reduce that to $100.
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- Water Supply
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