New Delhi: Eureka Forbes, makers of the Aquaguard and AquaSure brands of water purifiers, in collaboration with a city-based firm called WaterMaker, has created a machine that can produce water out of thin air.
The company test-marketed the product on Friday outside Sobo Central Mall in South Mumbai.
It was an unusual sight for the passers-by, where a machine as big as a normal size refrigerator that had a nozzle attached to it and a suction pipe linked to an exhaust fan at the other end was placed on top of an open truck.
The passers by were asked to test the water in a glass from the nozzle, which the company claimed to be safe enough to drink.
The technology, used in countries such as Israel and Singapore, sucks in humid air with the help of a suction pipe that is exposed to the atmosphere. The humid air then passes through condensers that separate the water from the air. This water is then purified and made available for drinking purpose through a nozzle (tap). "The machine works on electricity or alternate sources of energy (such as solar energy) to collect, condense, filter and dispense water," says A V Suresh, chief executive of ForbesPro and president (international business), Eureka Forbes.
Eureka Forbes collaborated with WaterMaker firm which is a specialist in this segment for this project. However, Eureka Forbes will sell this under its Aquaguard brand.
The product, which took two to three years to develop, will be commercially rolled out in schools, colleges, hospitals, offices complexes, factories, etc, in the coastal belt cities like Mumbai and Kolkata in two to three months.
The product used for test-marketing permitted the dispensation of 120 litres, or 500 glasses, of water in one operation. However, according A V Suresh, the company is working on machines with higher capacities which will be launched in the near future.
Although the company did not specified the investment for the project or the price at which the machine will be launched, but according to the sources the product will be priced around Rs 90,000-1,00,000 a unit.
