Tunisian tech start-up captures water from thin air - in pictures

Company has taken up the challenge of finding a tech solution to water scarcity

Iheb Triki, co-founder of water tech startup 'Kumulus' stands next to Kumulus-1, a machine that creates drinking water from air moisture, at El Bayadha elementary school, in Jendouba, Tunisia, June 2, 2022. Picture taken June 2, 2022. REUTERS / Jihed Abidellaoui

He hopes the machine will provide a solution to water scarcity. It can produce up to 30 litres of drinking water a day.

Mr Triki wants to replicate the phenomenon of morning dew. "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," he said.

The first Kumulus-1 machine has been set up in El Bayadha elementary school in Jendouba. The school lacks access to drinking water, a common problem in Tunisia.

Mr Triki said: “We have a great water shortage in the Arab world...This machine can do a paradigm shift, as it can produce water from air in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia."

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