V Refugees in Syria are being provided with desperately needed clean water drawn from thin air thanks to tech from Israel – despite the two countries having no diplomatic relations.
Millions of families displaced by the civil war have been left without access to clean water.
They are among what’s an estimated 1.8 billion people globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), who have to use contaminated water that can transmit diseases including diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio.
Israeli company Watergen has devised technology that sucks out the moisture from the air and creates mineral-enriched cold, clean drinking water on the spot. Using solar power, it can be deployed even in war-torn countries where there is no electricity.
The mobile plants can produce up to 6,000 litres a day, drawing on the billions of gallons of water in the atmosphere. Units have been sent to Gaza.
Prince Charles and former US Secretary of State John Kerry were recently given a demonstration of Watergen’s technology by chief executive Michael Rutman at a sustainable markets initiative in London.
The company has partnered with the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees (MFA) to deliver its sophisticated water-from-air generators to displaced Syrians in camps in the Raqqa Province, an area that suffered catastrophic damage to its infrastructure.
The region endures extreme weather conditions, drastically reducing the supply of safe water. Shadi Martini from the MFA told the JC that as Israel and Syria have no diplomatic relations, the operation was complicated.
He said: “We had to cross frontiers, there were logistical issues and then extreme weather issues, but it was so worth it in the end.” Recalling how he got involved in the MFA after he fled Aleppo in Syria after the civil war in 2013, he said. “I went to Bulgaria and from there helped refugees fleeing into Bulgaria.
“For the first time I met Israelis from an NGO, I hadn’t ever met a Jewish person before – it was a whole new world to me. We believed all these things about Israel. I believed that the Protocols of Zion was real and was taught that Israelis were the real evil.”
In 2016 the Israel Defence Force (IDF) launched Operation Good Neighbour to provide civilian aid to Syrians in need in the civil war.
Mr Martini said: “It was a struggle for Syrians as they were suspicious but the IDF reached out to us and asked if we could deliver aid to the Syrians and of course I jumped at it, we brought in $120 million worth of aid from Israel.
“To see the transition of relations between Syrians and Israelis was remarkable.” He says that at first they didn’t tell the Syrians that the air to water generators were an Israeli invention because they have been told never to accept anything from Israel even if it’s life-saving. But once they got used to the idea and realised the quality was great it was “like magic”; he says the refugees couldn’t believe it.
He recalled: “We approached Watergen as we had heard about their technology and how they had provided hospitals In Gaza with their water generators. It was so encouraging and a few months ago we managed to get two of their units into Raqqa, mainly for hospitals and schools and we are working on another few units.
“I can’t say how we managed because I do not want to jeopardise the operation. It’s been life-changing.”
Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, Watergen President and CEO says: “We are proud to participate in this life-saving initiative to improve the safety, health, and welfare of the region.
“In doing so, we continue to fulfil Watergen’s mission to guarantee clean drinking water to all who need it, something we believe is a basic human right. Scarcity crisis is one of the most dangerous global challenges and Watergen is here to confront it and ensure every human has access to clean drinking water no matter where he lives.
“Throughout history, conflicts have often been centred around controlling water sources. Today we are doing the opposite: building peace and a common future around a groundbreaking Israeli technology.”
