It is now generally accepted that Cape Town will be dry by Christmas if current consumption continues. If anything the consumption is expected to rise with summer, agricultural needs increasing and the influx of millions of tourists. The dams are showing the first signs of dropping levels but there are some solutions.

A South African business last week ordered Cape Town’s first water bottling plant that makes water from just the air. Ray de Vries, spokesman for the supply company, The AIRWATER Group (AWG), said that this was the first of many expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks as the water crisis bites deeper and day zero fast approaches.

“This novel humidity harvester is the answer to the massive water crisis facing schools, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and other commercial operations that face closing down because of the lack of water” he said from Cape Town.

A single machine AIRWATER MAKER bottling plant can generate enough water from the air to fill up to 3000 standard 500ml bottles per day. The plant is scalable upwards and machines can be added as the demand grows.

“To put this into perspective, that is enough water for the needs of 30-40 restaurants. The company supplies smaller machines that make enough water from the air to meet the tea, coffee, sodastream and other needs of the restaurant.”

De Vries is one of the pioneers of the commercialisation of this technology on the continent. He describes himself as an innovator rather than an inventor, but others know him as the African Rainmaker.

“I am even more excited now than I was eleven years ago when I started this project. This is the third drought my team and I have had the pleasure of providing solutions for, although, I must say that the Cape Town situation is by far the worst and is fast sliding from a crisis into a catastrophe.

The AIRWATER MAKER cools air down to dew point causing condensation to occur. The condensation drops into an ultra violet bin and is then passed through a 9 point filtration process as well as inline ultra violet sterilisers. The resultant water is very soft and alkaline making for a very tasty and healthy drink.

“We are super proud that these machines are made in South Africa by South Africans and for South Africans. We have many entrepreneurs who see the enormous business opportunities that the AIRWATER MAKER brings and are keen to get involved in a profitable win-win. It’s a kind of crazy thing, but the more entrepreneurs (or Waterpreneurs as de Vries calls them) that come forward, the more jobs are created and the more people have water to drink.

De Vries says that in his opinion the most satisfying part of this incredible new “water from the air way” is that for every litre of water consumed from the air there is a litre left behind for our fellow South Africans to use. In other words when we drink water from the air we are not drinking from the rivers, reservoirs and dams of our country making that water available for others.

For further information please contact Ray de Vries 082-884-4881 or ray@airwater.co.za or visit their website: www.airwater.co.za