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The inventor of a wind turbine which produces water out of humid air is hoping investors will be attracted by a system he claims will bring more drinking water to Bahrain’s growing population in an environmentally-sustainable manner, writes Anasuya Kesavan.
French company Eole Water’s pioneering technology is hopeful it can provide a solution to the ever-increasing demand for clean water. The average of water consumption per capita in Bahrain ranges between 450 to 600 litres per day and it is expected that there will be a need for an additional quantity estimated at 50 to 60 million gallons per day to meet the average water demand in the year 2020.
The WMS1000 wind turbine generates water from humid air and was presented for the first time in the kingdom at the recent Bahrain Green Tech Expo in Manama. Its engineers claim it can generate up to 1,000 litres of drinking water for as little as 26fils per litre along with 30kw of electricity every day.
The system costs more than BD300,000 and comes with one turbine and treats and adds essential minerals to water generated to make it ready for distribution. Founder and CEO of the company, Marc Parent, who was here to market the product to potential partners, said: “There is a drinking water shortage all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, and this could be an alternate solution to ensure that water reaches remote islands and villages.
“There is no pollution with this technology. It is very environment-friendly as it uses electricity generated through the system.
“The output depends on the location’s climatic conditions and even in a desert, the WMS1000 will produce about 300 litres of water per day.”
The idea was first tested by Marc, from Sainte Tulle, more than 15-years ago when he discovered that he could produce his own drinking water by recovering excess water from an air conditioning system. He then improved on the system to combine wind turbine technology and has patented his water-generating process.
The first prototype of the system was installed in Aix en Provence near to Marseille and has been functioning for more than 10 years. A second prototype is about to be installed in Abu Dhabi.
Seven researchers are currently working to improve the technology to increase the productivity of the system.
There has been growing interest in the project from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, according to industry sources. Dr Khalid Jassim Bomtaia, general manager of events management company PROACT, which invited the company to showcase its product in the kingdom, said: “Bahrain has high humidity and this technology, which is making water from humid air, could be very useful.”
For more information, visit www.eolewater.com
