The atmosphere has enough water in air that, if produced at a mass scale, could provide enough water for humankind, reduce energy use, expand vegetation, help the environment and reduce carbon footprint. Visitors and delegates at the 5th Arab Water Forum held at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, witnessed the live demonstration of the process of producing water from air and the opportunity to taste the water as well.
Currently 783 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water — equating to approximately one in 10 people globally — according to the WHO. With climate change, this number is going to increase drastically. Within a decade from now, it is believed that 50 percent of the world’s population will live in areas without access to clean, fresh, and safe drinking water.
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Abu Zeid, president of the Arab Water Council, said: “It is the best Arab Water Forum that I have seen and the best managed event, including the panel discussions as well as the exhibition where latest technologies and innovations are displayed, especially the air-to-water technology that can solve the water scarcity problem in the Arab world.”
Five companies that showcased the air-to-water technology and the water producing machines at the Arab Water Forum, said the technology has the power and capacity to provide enough clean drinking water to serve the needs of the world’s 7.5 billion people — in a sustainable manner.
“With six times more water in the atmosphere than all the world’s rivers combined, our goal is to help solve the world’s water scarcity and security challenges by accessing Earth’s greatest untapped water source — the atmosphere — to sustainably advance humanity and ensure communities have access to safe, clean drinking water and sanitation facilities,” said Roheen Berry, chief executive officer of Beyond Water.
“In the Middle East and Africa region, where water security regularly tops government agendas alongside food security and industrial growth — all of which demand high water usage — we are in a unique position to make real change via scalable anywhere-anytime solutions which can change the lives of countless communities across the region, improve the environment, and foster new employment opportunities in a diverse array of sectors.
The 5th Arab Water Forum, therefore ended on a high note offering a game-changing solution to a crucial age-old life-threatening problem in front of more than 600 delegates, officials, water experts, policy-makers and government ministers of a number of Arab countries — who have been seeking a cost-effective solution to increasing water scarcity in the Arab world.
The air-to-water technology, which has been under experimentation for more than 20 years, has now been perfected through research and development in many parts of the world from India to the US. Water produced from the atmosphere now not only costs less than the desalinated or bottled waters, it is now available for home use, office use and industrial use.
