Element Four has announced the creation of the first ever air-to-water converter, scheduled to appear sometime this year. Its purpose will be to simply transform oxygen in the atmosphere into water gathered in a tank. The water is then filtrated and can be used to cook, bathe or wash. Scientists with the company hope to have the product commercially available as soon as possible.

 

The system, named The WaterMill, converts humidity in the air into water by trapping wind, much similar to the concept pictured in Frank Herbert's Dune series. The maximum predicted output will be at about 12 liters (3 gallons) per day, depending on atmospheric conditions. The company says that their product will be easy to install, and that it will cover a small portion of the water requirements generated by an average household.

 

The system may prove to be very useful for homes in remote areas or constructed on very dry land, where a well is difficult to build. In the event of a potential water reserve contamination, the WaterMill could provide necessary water supplies to ensure the survival of those it serves. It will also generate more water when storms pass over it, as the humidity in the air increases dramatically during rain.

 

This type of devices may prove to be an alternate source of water in the near future, as scientists believe that the planet's fresh water supply could be compromised within a few decades, due to extreme pollution in the oceans, which are the main source of fresh water. More advanced filters or even micro fluidic devices, tiny pieces of glass or paper that can detect foreign bodies in liquids, attached to the pipes, could make water coming from equipments such as the WaterMill cleaner and more reliable than that found today, in various polluted places on the planet.