can hydropanels bring water to parched communities?
Some skeptics say the technology at present is too inefficient and expensive to be a practical solution to water scarcity
Outside more than 500 homes on the Navajo reservation in Arizona and New Mexico are devices that aim to help tackle this plumbing poverty. These “hydropanels” absorb water from the air and deliver it straight to a dispenser inside the house. Each one produces around five liters (1 gallon) daily, and two panels are enough to supply a family’s drinking water, according to Source, the Arizona-based company that produces them.
More than 2 billion people lack adequate access to water, and half the world will live in water-stressed areas by 2025. As the climate crisis accelerates – causing droughts to intensify, glaciers to melt and freshwater sources to become more depleted – water shortages are predicted to become more acute.
In Colombia, hydropanels have been installed in Bahía Hondita, a remote community of Wayuu indigenous people on the tip of the Guajira peninsula, an arid area that has been devastated by drought. Many Wayuu people must walk hours to find potable water, according to Conservation International, which worked with Source on the project. 149 panels were set up last year, aiming to supply drinking water to the nearly 500 people who live there.
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