LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California couple who came up with a way to turn air into 528 gallons (2,000 liters) of water a day have won the $1.5 million XPrize for Water Abundance.
David Hertz and his wife, Laura Doss-Hertz, of Malibu collected the prize last weekend at XPrize's Visoneering conference in Palos Verdes, California.
The Skysource/Skywater Alliance they founded with partner Richard Groden produces the water by using wood chips to heat air in a shipping container. The cost of making the water is less than 2 cents a quart (1 liter).
They beat out teams from 27 countries.
Hertz says they plan to use the money to build systems that can quickly deliver water to areas hit by drought or natural disasters or rural areas with a shortage of clean water.
