Scottsdale company selling products that extract water out of thin air

Scottsdale company makes panels that extract water out of thin air

Arizona, like other parts of the Southwest, is facing water problems, but one Scottsdale-based company is offering a solution, and people around the world are taking notice. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen reports.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Water levels across the southwest are lower than ever, and congress is considering massive investments to flood the problem.

A Scottsdale company, however, believes it has a better way.

Water-generating solution needed for native communities, former official says

The Sonoran Desert can be unbearable. The Sun is relentless, and water is hard to find.

While drinking water seems endless in the city, even amid a drought, there are no pipes and no answers at the edge of the Grand Canyon

"Three, four, five miles away from the main water line," said Jerry Williams, who once served as President of the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation.

Williams had to see Source Water's product to believe it.

"They just get up, get a cup and fill up the cup. If they have ice, throw some ice in there, and they have drinking water," said Williams.

Drinking water right at home, instead of driving miles of dirt roads every week just for H2O.

"This is something that is pretty much needed on Navajo," said Williams.

Panel makes clean water from sunlight and air, company official says

"Sunlight and air. That’s literally all we need to make clean drinking water right at home," said Thomas Borns with Source Water.

Borns says Source Water has received international attention for the potential it has, and use it already delivers. Solar-powered box made by the company sucks in air, and turns it into water.

"Essentially, what the unit is doing is drawing in this cooler air, and most importantly it contains water vapor, and that’s reaching this environment. We create inside the panel that’s much hotter thanks to the thermal energy. So, cool air hits the hotter force and effectively creates passive condensation," said Borns.

At Source Water's headquarters in Scottsdale, there are units on the roof, and water created by the units comes out of drinking fountains there. While there are competitors that can produce water from air, many rely on a plug. Source Water panel units run on solar power, and in the end, the water still comes right out of a faucet in a home.

Panel used by communities around the world

Inside the company's headquarters, they use a cellular connection to track every machine to make sure it’s working.

"It’s homes, it’s communities, it’s schools, it’s hospitals. It’s places where clean water is needed most," said Borns.

There are thousands of those machines across the globe, including an all-girls school in the African country of Kenya.

"Before those panels were there, girls were having to walk one to two hours a day to go get water. That means they had no time for education, no time to better themselves in life, so giving them the opportunity to have water accessible in school, to live where they spend their time, it’s not life-saving. It’s giving them their lives back," said Borns.

At Arizona State University's Polytechnic Campus, more than 200 Source Water panels are working together in what is being called a water farm. The installation can produce 400,000 gallons of water a year, and it provides water to local businesses and hotels. The farm is still growing in size.

"What this provides is a little bit of security and a little bit of hope. No matter how much our world might be changing and things that get in the way of our future, that we have brilliant people and brilliant minds working on solutions just like this to help make sure that everyone can continue living healthy and happy for a long time," said Borns. "This is hope. It's a cliche, but it’s also very real. We are in a very harsh and dry environment, and we’re able to make this water. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere."