All for soldiers; BEL makes water appear out of thin air

Bengaluru: As water is hard to come by for soldiers protecting  the country's borders in hilly terrain, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has come up with a technology for extracting it from the atmosphere and plans to soon deliver it to the army.

Called the 'Atmospheric water generator,' BEL's technology, displayed at Aero India, 2019, uses the moisture content in the air to produce water. Explains a BEL scientist associated with the project, "The machine uses heat exchange for condensing the moisture present in the air. The more the moisture content in the atmosphere, the more quickly the machine converts it into water. What's more, it is hundred per cent pure and fit for human consumption.”

The machine even has a mineralisation unit, which measures the amount of minerals a human body needs and adds the required quantity to the water. While it will be soon delivered to the armed forces, BEL hopes to produce it for commercial use too.

"The machine we designed for the armed forces can produce 1,000 litres of water a day and costs around Rs 9 lakh, with a litre of water costing Rs 1.70. Once we start producing it commercially, we expect to reduce the cost," adds the scientist.

The machine can even be mounted on mobile vehicles and customised  to produce any quantity of water needed, he says.