Sun’s Power at Work

“About 97 percent of the world’s water is saltwater or polluted water,” says Shimmy Zimels, CEO of Jerusalem-based SunDwater. That is why some 750 million people in 45 countries need to drill expensive wells, buy bottled water, or even use contaminated water despite the huge health risks.

SunDwater’s solar-powered distiller is targeted at these populations—particularly in Africa, South America and parts of Asia. It’s a “green,” low-cost, low-maintenance system that converts dirty or salty water into potable water without any need for infrastructure or an external energy source.

The water is pumped into the unit, which is outfitted with a four-square-meter (43-square-foot) round photovoltaic dish that concentrates the sunbeams for fast evaporation. The water vapor flows into a cylinder where it gets condensed back into freshwater.

The device was invented by Zimels’ childhood friend, product developer Shimon Ben-Dor, during the Israeli drought of 2009. A pre-market operational unit, set up in a sunny industrial park not far from the Dead Sea, produces 400 liters of clean water per day—five times the rate of similar systems. Several units could be linked to create a water farm, and a much larger version also is planned.

“This concept took several directions before Shimon decided to try getting heated water to evaporate and go back to its original molecular structure, which is what happens when it rains and the water evaporates up to the clouds,” Zimels tells ISRAEL21c. “His concept was to replicate what nature does.” For more information: www.sundwater.com