Drawing water from thin air may seem like magic, but for six ASU students it's business.
A group of ASU engineering and business students developed a machine that turns humid air into purified water. They plan to sell the machine to private markets in equatorial Africa, where clean drinking water is scarce.
The machine, called the Watel40, can produce drinking water for 13 cents a gallon.
The students formed Watel Solutions Corp., named for the combination of water and electricity, to privately market fresh drinking water in Africa.
"We hope that by initially introducing the Watel40 to customers who can afford it, we can eventually produce the unit at a lower cost - and provide clean, drinkable water to more people," Lionel Metchop, general manager of Watel Solutions Corp, told ASU Insight.
Engineering graduate students Metchop, Usaju Lemiso and Nnditsheni Madavha, along with business graduate students Ronald Gahimbare and Chris Ndungutse, and religious studies graduate student Vahid Dejwakh created the corporation.
All are members of the African Students' Association at ASU.
The group completed a prototype of the machine summer 2006.
They then joined forces to create the corporation in September 2006 so they could enter ASU's Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge.
They went on to win the challenge and its $20,000 prize.
The students are currently building a second prototype, and the products should be ready for sale in about six months, said Ron Gill, vice president of Alter-Air Corp., the company the students worked with to build the machine.
In summer 2006, the six students contacted Alter-Air Corp. with their design and asked for help in developing the prototype.
Alter-Air is a local company that specializes in groundbreaking alternative methods of air conditioning. Since the students' machine is essentially a modified air conditioner, Alter-Air was happy to step in and help, Gill said.
The Watel40 works by drawing in outside air through an evaporative coil and cooling it, causing the water vapor in the air to condense into droplets.
The water is then collected in a storage tank. Finally, it is filtered through charcoal and exposed to ultraviolet light to kill any harmful contaminants.
Both solar power and regular electricity would be able to power the machine.
The machine needs some moisture in the air in order to work.
"It works real well in humid climates," Gill said.
But even in Arizona the machine draws a gallon of drinking water every half hour during the summer monsoon season, Gill said.
The technology for the machine is not new; air conditioners drip for the same reason that the Watel40 does.
But the efficiency of the machine makes it a viable possibility in low-income markets. The device can create 40 gallons of drinkable water using only a single kilowatt of energy, Metchop said.
The group has received numerous accolades for the machine.
They won money at both the ASU entrepreneurship competition and an international competition, beating out teams from around the world.
In total, the students' wins have garnered them $25,000 to further develop their product.
Reach the reporter at: john.dougherty@asu.edu.
