WatAir, an inverted pyramid made from elastic canvas, recycled polycarbonate, metal or glass, can reap dozens of litres of water a day from the air.
The inexpensive solution could help bring clean drinking water to people in remote or polluted areas, its developers say.
"The design has minimal special demands. It is low-tech and low-cost, and in fact can be even produced with local means," says Joseph Cory, a PhD candidate at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and an architect at Haifa's Geotectura Studio.
Cory and colleague Eyal Malka of Malka Architects recently won first place for the invention in a competition sponsored by WaterAid, an international nonprofit organisation dedicated to providing safe domestic water to poor nations, and Arup, a UK-based firm specialising in sustainable designs.
Cory and Malka were inspired by the passive way dew gathers on leaves, spiders' webs, even on sleeping bags and tents.
via News in Science
