Roundup
South Africa: ‘We Can Create Rain during
Sunshine’ - SA Company Makes Water from Air
İsmail Tekeli, a resident, explained that the circumstances
are not so rare. “I installed a filter on the pipe at home but
I still find worms, tadpoles and insects even after I clean
up the filter a couple of times every week,” he said.
Similar problems have struck in the U.S. at times.
Oklahoma experienced a worm problem two years ago.
Residents began noticing small red organisms known as
“blood worms” appearing in their drinking water.
The Verge reported at the time: “Schools are closed,
convenience stores can’t serve fountain sodas, and
residents have been instructed not to cook or brush their
teeth using tap water. Bathing, fortunately, is still deemed
acceptable by local health authorities.”
It may not be blood from a stone, but a South Africanbased company has sold nearly 400 machines over the last
three months that actually make water out of air.
The company, aptly named Water from Air sells machines
that suck in air, cool it down, and use the condensation to
create filtered mineralized water.
“The water is 100% pure and clean,” Water from Air’s Ray
de Vries was reported as saying.
The machines work on the basis of humidity in the air.The
smallest machine made up to 32 litres in 24 hours, while
the largest one made up to 1 500 litres a day. They retail
for R25 000 and R785 000 respectively. The machines can
also connect to homes and allow people to live off the
grid - with their taps running water pulled from the air.
De Vries said while there were companies using the same
technology elsewhere in the world, Water from Air was the
first company to make home units available. They sold 384
units over the past three months and were talking to lots
of investors. ‘We can create rain during sunshine’
He said a mobile unit could be used during the aftermath
of a natural disaster, or at a large sporting event.De
Vries said they were proud that this was a South African
initiative.” This [making water out of air] is nothing short
of miraculous. It is actually very obvious: the solution, air,
has been right there in front of our noses.”
He said the machines also solved the problem of
transporting water over long distances.”We don’t take the
water somewhere. We make the water,” said De Vries.”We
can create rain during sunshine.”
Worms and Tadpoles Pour Out Of Faucets
Residents say pipes supplying water to the province of
Aksaray “were installed two decades ago and with the
pipes wearing out, tadpoles and worms were sighted when
they turned on their taps. Villagers complaining of the
long bureaucratic process for the replacement of the water
supply turned to installing filters to no avail,” the Daily
Sabah reported.
Residents have begun appealing to authorities for help.
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2015
Those “blood worms” proved to be nearly indestructible.
“The chlorine won’t kill them, the bleach won’t kill them,”
Cody Gibby, the town’s water commissioner, told a local
TV network, per The Verge. “You can take the worms
out of the filter system and put them in a straight cup of
bleach and leave them in there for about four hours, and
they still won’t die.”
Eventually authorities green lighted the tap water again.
“Officials had said the worms weren’t a health threat to
people but acknowledged that it wasn’t appealing,” the
Associated Press reported.
It’s a tap water nightmare: In central Turkey, worms and tadpoles are coming out
of the faucet.
What happened?
And in July, Texas residents faced off with worms, as
well. Residents in Old River-Winfree, a town of about
1,400 roughly 25 miles east of Houston, are served by a
decades-old J&S Water Company facility, it was reported.
Customers “began finding brown and red worms in their
tap water,” the report said.
“The private company responsible blames the invasion
on a power outage and broken equipment,” USA
Today reported. The company has pointed to a broken
chlorinator.