Water from thin air? Tunisian startup takes up challenge
STORY: Location: Jendouba, Tunisia
This machine transforms air into water
The founders hope the machine will find a solution to water scarcity
[Iheb Triki, Co-founder / Kumulus]
“This machine is called Kumulus, its goal is to make drinkable water from solar energy and air. The concept is to replicate the phenomenon of morning dew. So what happens? We see that the air enters from here and passes through the first air filter to clean it from pollutants, it then goes into the machine to cool down the water, so we replicate dew.”
Access to drinking water is a problem in Tunisia
The first Kumulus-1 machine has been established in a school
The school lacks proper access to drinking water
[Iheb Triki, Co-founder / Kumulus]
“We have a great water shortage in the Arab world. 12 of the 17 most water scarce countries in the world are in the Arab world. Water scarcity and the depletion of underground water are increasing due to climate change. This machine can do a paradigm shift, as it can produce water from air in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, it can produce water from the moisture in the air. So it is one of the solutions to the problem of water scarcity that we suffer from.”
It can produce up to 30 liters of drinking water per day
