Billboards: The New Water Fountain

Have you ever found yourself wandering through the Peruvian desert anguished with an unquenchable thirst? I have and it was rough. Granted I neglected to bring an adequate amount of bottled water, but finding clean H2O in Peru is challenging. Lima, the largest city in Peru, is a coastal desert situated at the northern edge of the Atacama, the driest desert in the world (fun fact: Lima is the second largest desert city behind Cairo). Receiving on average half an inch of rain annually means Lima and its inhabitants depend upon drainage from the Andes for water. As a result of climate change, Peruvians have had to reconsider this source of water. The University of Engineering and Technology of Peru (UTEC) has teamed up with Mayo Draft FCB to develop a billboard that produces water. The system cleverly extracts water from the humid air through reverse osmosis. Watch the video below for more information concerning this system.

Peruvians, who flock to the billboard toting bottles and buckets, are relieved to finally have access to clean water. One million of Peru’s eight million inhabitants lack clean water. According to Mayo Draft FCB the billboard has already produced 2,500 gallons of water in three months, which equates to hundreds of families consuming clean water.

Just imagine how many individuals can have access to clean water by situating a system like this in a troubled area. One thing is for certain, next time I find myself in the Peruvian desert I’ll be sure to bring a bucket.

-Jimena