Solar-powered device pulls drinking water straight out of thin air.
People living in arid, drought-ridden areas may soon be able to get water straight from a source that is all around them – the air, US researchers say.
Scientists have developed a box that can convert low-humidity air into water, producing several litres every 12 hours, they wrote in the journal Science.
Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link "It takes water from the air and it captures it," said Evelyn Wang, a mechanical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-author of the paper.
The technology could be "really great for remote areas where there"s really limited infrastructure", she said.
The system, which is still in the prototype phase, uses a material that resembles powdery sand to trap air in its tiny pores.
When heated by the sun or another source, water molecules in the trapped air are released and condensed, essentially "pulling" the water out of the air, the scientists said.
Areas going through droughts often experience dry air, but Wang said the new product could still help them get access to water.
"Now we can get to regions that really are pretty dry, arid regions," she said.
It opens the way for use of [the technology] to water large regions as in agriculture."