BBC News, Aida
Parados, BBC Mundo, 22 March 2013
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| The billboard serves a dual purpose, acting to draw students to the newly established engineering university UTEC |
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Just
outside Lima, Peru, a billboard provides drinking water to whomever needs it -
mainly, its neighbours.
The panel
produces clean water from the humidity in the air, through filters.
Researchers
at the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) in Lima and advertising
agency Mayo Peru DraftFCB joined forces to launch it.
UTEC says
it wanted to put "imagination into action" and show that it is
possible to solve people's problems through engineering and technology.
"A
billboard that produces drinking water from air," says the billboard up
high. And it does what it says on the tin: so far, the billboard has produced
over 9,000 litres of drinking water - 96 litres a day.
The panel
is strategically located in the village of Bujama, an area south of the capital
city that is almost a desert, where some people have no access to clean water.
Access to
all
Despite
tough conditions with little rain, air humidity reaches 98%, says UTEC.
"The
panel traps humidity in the air and transforms it into water. It's that
simple," said Jessica Ruas, a spokesperson from the university.
"There
is a lot of water. It is right there in the sea, but it is not suitable for
drinking purposes, and costs a lot of money to process it."
Ruas says
the system might become a wider solution for the problem.
 |
| The billboard has become something of a local attraction as well as a local resource |
"It Doesn't have to come in the shape of a billboard, but ingenuity is keyto development"
Internally,
the panel consists of five devices that extract water vapour from the air using
a condenser and filters.
Water is
stored in tanks at the top of the structure. Once filtered, it flows down a
pipe connected to a tap, accessible to everybody.
The
internal system costs some US$1,200 (£790) to set up.
On the
publicity side, the panel itself seeks to attract the "creative minds that
Peru needs" to the young UTEC, which was founded only a year ago.
"We
want to change the minds of future engineers and inspire them," said Ms
Ruas.
The
neighbours have given the billboard a warm welcome. It has become a local
attraction for and motorists and an indispensable part of life in the local
village.
"We
hadn't realised how big the impact would be," said Ms Ruas.
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“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.
It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.
So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.
Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”
It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.
So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.
Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”
