Many villages around the world are faced with the challenge of clean water supply. Access to basic sanitation is somewhat a rarity too. In some cases, the water available is so contaminated, it leads to diseases and sicknesses. Noting a report of the United Nations Development Programme, water scarcity affects nearly 40% of the world’s population.
To curb this trend, in present-day villages in Ethiopia, Togo and Haiti, water is being harvested from the atmosphere and used as an energy source to illuminate the villages. This is owing to an initiative of Warka Water, whose founder and President is Arturo Vittori.
Arturo Vittori is a trained artist, architect and industrial engineer. He along with his team, have been inspired to lend a helping hand. In 2015, they designed Warka Water’s first project, the Warka Tower. The project was aimed at solving the problem of a lack of clean drinkable water.
Warka Water is a large vertical structure, shaped like the warka tree that collects clean water, in the form of rain, fog and dew, from the atmosphere. It was derived from surrounding natural elements i.e. bamboo, polyester mesh, polyester cable and hemp rope. The importance of using biodegradable and recyclable materials was not lost on the group. Warka Towers can be found in Togo, Haiti and Ethiopia.
Beyond the primary need for clean water, Vittori and his team realized that the villages had a new set of pressing issues including poor housing, low food supply and a lack of electricity. As such, the Warka Solar, Warka Sanitation, Warka House and Warka Garden projects were birthed. The Warka Solar, for instance, was an improvement upon the existing Warka Tower model, with a few inclusions of solar panels to provide electricity. All of these other projects satisfy a particular need.
