The humidity in Lima averages 83% due to its location along the southern Pacific Ocean. It lies at the northern edge of the driest desert in the world and sees perhaps half an inch of precipitation a year.
Lima usually depends on drainage from the Andes mountains and runoff from melted glaciers-both sources are on the decline from climate change.
About 1.2 million residents of Lima lack running water entirely.
Fortunately, the University of Engineering and Technology of Peru was looking for a big project for the start of its 2013 enrollment period.
With the help of ad agency Mayo DraftFCB, they came up with the idea of a billboard that converts Lima’s H20 saturated air into potable water for all who pass by.
The billboard is powered by electricity and requires five primary devices to work. Each device first generates up to 20 liters of water.
Then, the water is transported through small ducts to a central holding tank at the billboard’s base where the water is distributed through a faucet.
The ad agency reports that the billboard has already produced 9,450 liters of water (roughly 2,500 gallons) in just three months. We can only imagine what a healthier and less impoverished world we would live in if more of these creations were placed all around the world in the cities that need them most.
Written by Sean Levinson | Elite.