Air + solar power = clean drinking water

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced an Australian-first trial of water systems that produce clean drinking water drawn directly from the air using solar power.

ARENA will provide $420,000 in funding to US-based Zero Mass Water to deploy 150 of its solar-powered SOURCE drinking water systems across multiple locations in Australia. The $821,500 total project will demonstrate the technology not yet seen in Australia — a product that produces clean, renewable drinking water extracted from the air using solar energy.

The SOURCE hydropanels are infrastructure-free, with no external electricity or water required for operation. Instead of filtering or distributing mains water, SOURCE produces pure water by harnessing the power of the sun and the moisture in the air.

The hydropanels can produce up to 5 L of clean drinking water on a typical day, depending on the climate. Each hydropanel produces enough water to displace over 20,000 plastic water bottles over 15 years.

The trial will see SOURCE rolled out in 150 sites across Australia, including Sydney, Adelaide and Perth as well as regional towns and remote communities. The hydropanels will also be trialled in a variety of locations, including airports, cafes, community centres, commercial buildings and sustainable properties.

The project is expected to reduce the reliance on plastic bottled water while also providing accessible clean drinking water to rural communities with limited access to clean drinking water or electricity, or during droughts. The pilot phase will also incorporate a third-party study to evaluate the environmental impacts of bottled water in Australia.

“Zero Mass Water’s project will create a product that offers a new application and market opportunity for the solar industry in Australia,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht. “Using a combination of solar PV with solar thermal technology, SOURCE’s ability to create clean drinking water could be utilised to achieve positive solutions around water supply.

“The potential benefits of this technology to the environment are important. This pilot project can produce reliable drought-resistant water sources to remote communities while simultaneously reducing the amount of plastic bottles that end up in landfill.”

“We are thrilled to partner with ARENA and demonstrate our SOURCE hydropanel technology in Australia,” added Zero Mass Water’s founder and CEO, Cody Friesen.

“SOURCE hydropanels provide a renewable, infrastructure-free water solution to the driest inhabited continent on Earth.”