News
Clean-tech company announces machine that can sanitize 5,000 litres of water a day

London, U.K. – In tandem with World Water Day, clean-tech company Watly is preparing to open an Indiegogo campaign to fund its solar technology, the Watly 3.0 thermodynamic computer, which uses solar energy to sanitize over 5,000 litres of water a day, and generate electricity and connectivity.

The development of Watly 3.0 follows the successful trial of a smaller machine, Watly 2.0, in Abenta Village, Ghana.

Watly will provide the three pillars that modern society needs to prosper: water, power and connectivity, the UN said in a news release. The machine combines the three functionalities to make each one more efficient, delivering a level of service that would possible without them working in unison. Watly combines two major technologies: photovoltaic and thermal solar. Feeding contaminated water (including ocean water) into the machine, Watly uses solar heat collected by super efficient vacuum-tubes to vaporise and therefore sanitise the water. This process includes the use of graphene technology. The photovoltaic panels located on the roof, generate instead off-grid electricity to power the internal electronics of the machine as well as being used for recharging external devices such as mobiles phones or portable computers.

During its 15 years of service, one Watly can save as much as 2,500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2), equivalent to 5,250 barrels of oil, purify millions of litres of water and generate 1GWh of free electricity.

Each Watly communicates with the Central Network Management Platform, as well as with other machines via radio-link, existing networks (3G/4G), and/or satellite connections. The system can be controlled using the connectivity it provides meaning that settings can be adjusted to cope to any changes in climate or environment. One Watly is a stand-alone machine, but two or more Watly become a network. This network can power entire cities and countries, servicing million of people, while benefiting the planet earth.

“Our experience in Ghana was truly eye-opening: we knew the potential of our prototype Watly, but seeing it transform a village by providing easy access to basic resources made us really proud about what we are doing,” Marco A. Attisani, chief executive officer and founder of Watly, said in the release. “On our planet we still have one billion people lacking clean water, two billion without electricity, and around five billion without connectivity. In this technological age, when we have so much capacity to provide solutions to these basic problems, these numbers are not acceptable anymore.”

The company is now launching a crowd funding campaign to give individuals the opportunity to contribute to the technology.