An odd, but state-of-the-art technology is supplying poor residents outside of Lima, Peru with access to clean drinking water.
In order to attract ambitious, socially-conscious students to apply to Peru’s University of Engineering and Technology, the school teamed up with advertising agency DraftFCB to both help alleviate water scarcity and create a novel ad campaign to recruit young people interested in solving problems through engineering.
Situated south of the equator on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, but pushed up against the driest desert in the world, Lima’s humidity averages 98%, while they receive only about half an inch of precipitation per year.
Built at the 89th kilometer mark of the Pan-American Highway about 40 miles outside of the city, the billboard draws humidity out of the air and passes it through multiple filtration systems until it flows into a cold tank at the base of the structure where a tap allows residents to fill up and take fresh water back to their homes.
It’s capable of producing about 25 gallons of drinking water per day and has already produced 2,500 gallons since it was erected three months ago.
– Jordan N. Hunt
Source: Time, ABC, UTEC
Photo: The Inspiration Room