Tracy Staedter: Water From Air, Low-Tech Style

Leaves and spiderwebs beaded with dew have inspired a low-tech solution for collecting fresh water.

WatAir, an inverted pyramid made from elastic canvas, recycled polycarbonate, metal or glass, can reap dozens of liters of water a day from the air. The inexpensive solution could help bring clean drinking water to people in remote or polluted areas.

"The design has minimal special demands. It is low-tech and low-cost, and in fact can be even produced with local means," said Joseph Cory, a PhD candidate at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and an architect at Haifa, Israel-based Geotectura Studio.

Cory and colleague Eyal Malka of Malka Architects recently won first place for the invention in the "drawing water challenge" sponsored by WaterAid, an international nonprofit dedicated to providing safe domestic water to poor nations, and U.K.-based Arup, a firm specializing in sustainable designs.

Cory and Malka were inspired by the passive way dew gathers on leaves, spider webs, even on sleeping bags and tents. They designed a four-sided structure shaped like an inverted pyramid, with each panel about 10 feet tall.

At night, dew drops bead up on both the tops and undersides of the panels. Because the dew collecting on top may contain dust, dirt or insects, that water could be used for irrigation. But dew from the underside is drinkable.