World Vision South Africa Launches Ford-Funded Mobile Water Generation Project
World Vision South Africa, one of the winners of the 2018 Bill Ford Better World Challenge, are introducing the world to its unique mobile water generation project that will help ease the effects of drought. With a grant of US$200,000 from the Bill Ford Better World Challenge and an additional US$130,000 from Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, the group purchased a Watergen water-from-air device that extracts water from the air to ensure that fewer people in the Eastern Cape have to go thirsty.
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“We are delighted to officially launch this innovative project, thanks to the generous grants received from the Bill Ford Better World Challenge, Ford Motor Company Fund and Ford Research and Advanced Engineering,” said World Vision South Africa’s Chikondi Phiri. “The Eastern Cape has been severely impacted by drought in recent years, and the poorest communities are the hardest hit. Accordingly, the project will primarily focus on assisting schools, clinics and Early Childhood Development Centers as well as households where the need is greatest.”
The project will spend the next two years working with schools in Uitenhage and KwaNobuhle as well as area clinics and approximately 3,400 homes to provide clean, potable water. The Watergen GEN-350 mobile water generator will sit in a custom heavy-duty trailer linked to a Ford Ranger XL Double Cab; using a diesel generator, the GEN-350 can produce upwards of 238 gallons of water a day by pulling water from humidity in the air.
Watergen has been a part of similar efforts worldwide and has earned the CES 2019 Best of Innovation award for Tech for a Better World as well as recognition as a 2018 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.
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