Overview
Billboards are traditionally known for their advertising, but in a world first, Peruvians prove they can offer an alternative function: producing water out of thin air. The University of Engineering and Technology in Lima, the second largest capital city in the world set on a desert, has developed this incredible billboard, which could improve the health of hundreds of citizens.
The contraption contains generators that capture the air's humidity, which due to the lack of rain in the region is usually at 98 percent. This is then treated through air and carbon filters, condensed into purified water, and stored in tanks to be accessed by taps at the base of the billboard.
Because so many people in the area source their (often polluted) water from wells, this potable water is a real help to the millions of residents of the city. The billboard produces 9450L water over a period of three months, which is enough clean water to cover the consumption of hundreds of families each month.
The multifunction billboard does also advertise for the University that developed it — but then, this innovative, life-saving creation does warrant the right to brag just a little bit.
Take a look at this video to find out more about how the billboard works and the effects it's had on the people of Lima.
Via PSFK.
