- green-spots
- water generation
- Ethiopia
- Extracting water from the air, Ethiopia
Problems
Ethiopia's rural water crisis
As one of the poorest countries in the world, Ethiopia suffers from frequent droughts and famines, with 84 percent of the population residing in rural areas and depending on subsistence farming. In certain parts of the country, finding and collecting water is a six-hour journey, a task that adds up to a grueling total of 40 billion hours a year for people in the region. Hundreds of Ethiopians suffer from fatal diseases due to contaminated water collected from ponds or lakes that contain infectious bacteria, animal waste and other harmful substances. Poor water quality damages harvests and decimates livestock, leading to minimal food production. The situation also causes social problems for Ethiopian women who are responsible for the long trek to fetch water and, subsequently, cannot attend school or participate in community life.
Solutions
Warka Water converts air to water
Author: Warka Water
Vittori and Volger’s company, Architecture and Vision, developed the Warka Water, a majestic 30-foot-tall palm-like structure that is biodegradable and can be constructed without mechanical tools in less than a week. The Warka Water, which is named after a native Ethiopian fig tree, consists of a bamboo frame designed for stability and ease of airflow, a mesh net that attracts water condensation, and a container that collects water droplets from the mesh. The water in the container then passes through a tube that functions as a faucet, carrying water to the people on the ground. The Warka Water produces 26 gallons of water each day, which is enough to provide drinking water for a small rural community of 40 inhabitants, according to Vittori. All water collected is safe and drinkable, given that the local air conditions are not polluted, and productivity is dependent on seasonal and climatic conditions such as humidity, wind and temperature differences. In addition, the bamboo and mesh are accessible in the region, easy to clean and do not require extensive maintenance. The low-tech design of the Warka Water makes it economically attractive to the local Ethiopians, many of whom live in extremely impoverished conditions. Each water tower costs only $550, less than a quarter of the cost of similar high-tech solutions for water production. With the simplicity of the Warka Water and the needlessness for special machinery or scaffolding, Vittori plans to teach the locals how to build Warka Water towers and spread this knowledge to other villages throughout Ethiopia. WarkaWater could also prove useful in other areas, like deserts, which have the critical feature for collecting condensation: a dramatic change in temperature between nightfall and daybreak. This elegant invention may not solve all of the world's water woes, but it could improve accessibility one drop at a time.
Source: https://warkawater.org/
Gallery
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Timelines
2019
The Warka Tower, version n. 4, has been constructed in Cameroon, in the South Region. This marked the expansion of the project to other African countries.
2016
Warka Tower version 3.7 was successfully tested. It is the second WT Pilot deployed in Bomarzo. The know-how acquired with 3.2 has been fundamental for the development and implementation of these subsequent versions.
2015
The first Warka Tower pilot has been constructed in Dorze, a rural community in south Ethiopia. After this successful initiative, the organization founded “Warka Water Inc.” a non-profit based in the USA, as a platform for our social actions.
2012
The Waka Water initiative started, and several prototypes on different scales were designed, implemented, and constructed to test various aspects of the project.