Addressing the pressing issue of water scarcity, a team led by Shrivastav has introduced a revolutionary solution that harnesses moisture from the air to produce clean, drinkable water. The journey began in 2016 when faced with a water crisis at college, prompting Shrivastav and his team to develop prototypes for air-to-water technology. However, it wasn’t until 2018, following a significant $50,000 prize win for their innovative approach, that they fully committed to their venture, Uravu.
Setting themselves apart from over 100 companies worldwide producing water from air, Uravu utilizes a unique technique involving desiccants, rather than the conventional condensation method. Shrivastav highlights that their method, employed by only a handful of companies globally, involves absorbing moisture with a desiccant and then releasing it through heat—a process that ensures the purity of the collected water.
The Uravu machine operates with two chambers—an absorber and a desorber—utilizing a calcium chloride solution as the desiccant. Air is drawn into the absorber chamber, where it reacts with the salt solution to absorb moisture. Subsequently, the moisture is transferred to the desorber chamber, where heat is applied to convert it into steam-like vapor. Finally, the vapor is condensed at ambient conditions, resulting in the collection of pure water, enriched with food-grade minerals before bottling.
With Bengaluru alone requiring 1.4 billion liters of water daily, Uravu’s technology taps into the abundant moisture in the air, replenished every 8-10 days, as opposed to the significantly slower replenishment rate of groundwater. Presently, Uravu’s bottled water is available to hotels and restaurants, priced between Rs 10-15 for 500 ml. While supermarkets are not yet part of their distribution strategy to avoid plastic use, the team aims to explore sustainable packaging options for broader accessibility in the future.
Uravu’s groundbreaking approach not only provides a sustainable solution to water scarcity but also emphasizes the importance of innovation in addressing environmental challenges, setting a new standard for water generation technologies worldwide.
