EWA Water from Air

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get large amounts of drinkable water to places where it is not naturally available, while providing the lowest price, good quality and minimal environmental impact? We use the water that is contained in the air.

Is there enough water in the air? Yes, there is about half a liter of water in the air of an average room (50 cubic meters of air), depending on the relative humidity. Looking at an industrial scale in the open, an area of 1 cubic km contains 10,000 to 40,000 liters – enough to supply the drinking water needs of thousands of people.

How do you get the water? – EWA uses a patented multi-stage process: first blowing air over a bed of special granular desiccation material that directly absorbs the water molecules (chemically based process), then heating the desiccant to release water vapor, and then compressing the vapor to get liquid water. This process is energy efficient and produces drinkable water directly (unlike alternative technologies, no further cleaning is needed – only the addition of trace quantities of calcium and magnesium).

How do we continuously get fresh air to replace the “dried” air that was used? The air humidity is an endless source to replace the “dried” air that we use. As the air passes the EWA system, it becomes a little warmer and lighter and naturally goes up (chimney effect), to be replaced by cooler air with more humidity.

Is there an impact on the neighborhood? Actually no. To put this in perspective, let’s consider a typical domestic air conditioner, hundreds of millions of which are used all over the world. Such a 3.5 KW device blows ~3,000-5,000 cubic meters of air per hour and heats the air significantly (air comes out at over 40°c/100°f). A building with 20 apartments thus moves 100,000 cubic meters of air per hour with a significant heat impact. In comparison, an EWA-III device only moves only 1/3 of that volume, and does not have an environmental impact.

What is the impact on the environment? Water desalination technologies produce waste that negatively impacts the environment and generates carbon emission debits. EWA’s technology requires moderate heat energy, can use natural and/or residual heat sources and little electricity. The EWA technology does not use chemicals and does not produce any wastes or residues. Moreover, upon consuming heat energy from renewable energy sources, it actually produces carbon credits. Furthermore, EWA technology creates new fresh liquid water (transformation process) that is added to the water cycle.

What is behind this surprising energy efficiency? In addition to the multi-stage process, EWA-III includes a patented internal heat exchange design that reduces significantly the overall energy consumption of the system.