Billboard Turns Humidity Into Drinkable Water
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Depending on who you’re talking to, conversations about energy sources are some of the most annoying dialogues in the world. Everyone is talking about ways to switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energies, and it’s shifted attention away from how we can utilize current technologies for the better of the Earth and its citizens. And in case you’re wondering, wall-to-wall flat-screen TVs at small town skating rinks is not the solution.
Rarely do inspiring stories come from advertising agencies, but the agency Mayo DraftFCB teamed up with Peru’s University of Engineering and Technology to create a billboard that converts humidity into drinking water. The billboard, placed in Peru’s virtually rain-free capital city of Lima, runs off generators that can capture the moisture right out of the atmosphere. It then sends that accumulated water through a filtration system, and outputs drinkable water stored inside 20-liter tanks, where the water is distributed through taps. No plastic bottles needed.
Astoundingly, Lima usually doesn’t get more than an inch of rain per year, but has humidity levels that top out around 98 percent. I should hope a deodorant billboard isn’t far behind.
The university reports 9,450 liters of drinking water were produced in a three-month period, which was enough to bring water to hundreds of area families per month. With this one such a success, this kind of thing could and should spring up all over the place. The palm tree oasis mirage may one day become a thing of the past.
