Standing firm amid fury

Western Bureau:

As Hurricane Melissa tore across Jamaica on October 28, crippling power grids and shutting down water supply systems mainly in the western region, one machine high in the Cockpit Country mountains kept producing clean drinking water.

In the autonomous Maroon community of Accompong, a solar-powered atmospheric water generator continued operating after the Category 5 storm, supplying nearly 400 gallons of potable water daily at a time when many Jamaicans were without electricity or running water.

The system was designed by Moses West, a former United States Army Ranger and founder of Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) Technology Contracting, who says the idea was born from personal experience in water-scarce, high-risk environments.

“What I do is I build industrial atmospheric water generators for the United States military,” he told The Gleaner.

West explained that, during his military service, access to water was often uncertain and dangerous.

“There were several times where we had shortages of water and … we had no way to supply the water to us,” he said.

“Air transport was too expensive … and the area was too hot from the enemy’s fire to get water by ground.”

Those experiences, coupled with years living in drought-prone Australia, led him to refine a technology that extracts moisture from the air and converts it into safe drinking water.

“As we all know, water comes in three forms. It comes in a liquid, comes in a solid, it comes in a gas,” West said. “So what I did was I innovated a technology that could pull water out of the air faster than you could pull it out of the ground.”

West has been developing the technology for more than 15 years. Today, his primary client is the US military, though he says his long-term goal has always been civilian and humanitarian use.

“Finally, right now, we have a system in Accompong producing water on solar power out of the atmosphere for the entire village,” he said.

While the Accompong system did not escape the hurricane unscathed, West said its rapid return to service demonstrated its durability.

“It didn’t survive,” he said, frankly. “The winds tipped the … solar panels over.”

However, quick action by local leaders ensured its recovery.

“With the quick thinking of Chief (Richard) Currie and Anu El (Accompong ambassador), they brought the system back up to level again,” West said. “They tipped it back over and turned it on.”

The machine was operational again within 48 hours.

According to West, the system’s rugged design is no accident.

“When you design for the military, you design for impact,” he said. “Bullet fragments, blast fragments, rough movement, hard landings … including a Category 5 hurricane.”

PUMP RUNS ON SOLAR ENERGY

Unlike Jamaica’s conventional water infrastructure, which depends heavily on electricity for pumping, the Accompong system runs solely on solar energy, supported by battery storage.

“When the sun’s up, there’s enough power to operate the water generator plus store the batteries. When the sun goes down, then the batteries convert that stored energy into power.”

The system, he says, depends on one key environmental factor and that’s humidity.

“There’s no shortage of humidity out there. None.”

He added, “Jamaica’s climate is absolutely ideal. You could make enough water in Jamaica where you could actually export water.”

West said the technology is particularly suited for rural and hard-to-serve communities that lack consistent water infrastructure.

“You don’t need infrastructure. You don’t need to run a long pipe,” he said. “All you need is solar panels and batteries and sunlight.”

The current Accompong unit can supply drinking water for more than 500 people daily, with larger systems capable of serving entire towns.

“We’ve done it in Puerto Rico,” West noted. “We had 15,000 people using the machine for all their drinking water needs.”

In Westmoreland and other parishes where power outages frequently disrupt National Water Commission pumping operations, West believes atmospheric water generators could serve as emergency backup systems.

Currently, many communities in Westmoreland remain without safe drinking water or any running water at all, but West believes this system is ideal for emergencies like this.

“Just pull these systems out, start them up, come back the next day, have 5,000 litres of water,” he said.

“The machine just continues to make water. It doesn’t have to bring it from anywhere except out of the air.”

West said he is open to collaborating with Jamaican authorities and utilities.

“My team would absolutely be able to collaborate with them and show them the best way to implement the technology on the island,” he said.

He described the machines as a long-term investment.

“A machine that I can build, it’ll outlast the person who purchases the machine,” he said.

“They’re very stout, very robust, low maintenance, easy to operate … and they just make water. The same way you change water filters in your home or on a well, that’s all you have to do with these machines … (and) change the air filters.”

As climate change intensifies storms and saltwater intrusion threatens freshwater sources, West sees Jamaica as a critical testing ground for resilient water solutions.

“I need to see more of this technology in the hands of the civilian population,” he said.

“Jamaica is a prime location where this technology is ... desperately needed today.”

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com