As California deals with repeated droughts, some residents have had to worry they may lose access to clean drinking water.
The state’s Household Water Supply Shortage System has reported 3,775 wells have gone dry since 2013, and the Public Policy Institute of California projected in mid-2021 that 2,700 more could follow that year, with a thousand more the next, if dry conditions continued.
Many of those wells are in Fresno, Madera and Tulare counties, but some are also in Kern, the independent nonprofit report said.
In the midst of this disruption, a new company is proposing a new method of obtaining drinking water it says can be a solution to the water woes of not only California, but the world.
The Arizona-based SOURCE Global has developed a device that extracts the moisture from the air and converts it into clean drinking water using solar power. Just like solar and wind energy have offered society access to renewable energy, SOURCE says the technology it has developed offers access to renewable water.
The company calls its new device a hydropanel, a flat black panel that looks surprisingly like a solar panel. SOURCE says two of its hydropanels can produce 10 liters of water a day — more than 2½ gallons — which it says is enough to satiate between four to six people each day.
“Our mission is to perfect water for every person in every place,” Clara Nagy McBane, SOURCE’s vice president for business development in North America, said in a phone interview with The Californian.
A donation from Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist and part owner of the Golden State Warriors, has allowed SOURCE to offer 1,000 hydropanels to Central Valley residents. The company is working with community-based organizations to place the hydropanels in the communities that need them most, and encourages Kern County residents to apply on its website for the devices.
“This is a proof of concept for innovative water solutions in general,” Nagy McBane said, adding that the panels worked anywhere with higher than 10 percent humidity.
The company has already deployed its technology in 52 countries, and is developing a “water farm” that can produce 2 million bottles of drinking water per year for The Red Sea Project, a luxury tourist attraction planned for the western coast of Saudi Arabia.
Actor Robert Downey Jr. even has the panels at his house.
But it remains uncertain whether the hydropanels would be enough to completely replace traditional sources of water for a household. The World Health Organization reported in 2017 each person needs an average of 50 liters of water per day to meet basic needs like drinking and cleaning. And a 2021 study published in the scientific journal Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy found atmospheric water generation “does not provide economically viable alternatives for potable tap water or nondrinking water sources.”
Still, SOURCE hopes to be an alternative solution for families who are currently spending between $60 and $70 per week on bottled water.
“We are excited to bring clean drinking water to the Central Valley,” Nagy McBane said.
Sam Morgen can be reached at 661-395-7415. Follow him on Twitter: @smorgenTBC.
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