The Israeli company, Watergen, has deployed its water-from-air generators to the war-torn Ukrainian city of Kherson, providing the city with thousands of liters of drinkable water daily.
Each generator is capable of providing 900 liters of drinkable water per day.
The company sent the generators in response to the recent devastating dam collapse in Nova Kakhovka, a region controlled by Russia in southern Ukraine. The collapse led to extensive flooding, mass evacuations, and a severe scarcity of water.
In response, two large Watergen generators were expedited to the Kherson area, augmenting three that had already been deployed to other regions. Powered by solar energy, the generators convert atmospheric moisture into potable water without needing a connection to a water source using either standard electrical connectivity or solar panels.
Watergen provided the machines in cooperation with the local Jewish community led by Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, with plans to dispatch more units to assist the affected civilians in Ukraine.
The generators were donated by American Jewish organizations.
Thirty towns and villages along the river and nearly 2,000 homes in the city of Kherson – the region’s Ukrainian-controlled capital — were submerged after the dam collapsed.
According to Ukrainian Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets, at least 150 metric tons of oil from the dam leaked into the Dnipro, with the environmental damage estimated at 50 million euros ($53.8 million).
The Ukrainian Agricultural Ministry reported that the collapse left 94 percent of irrigation systems in Kherson, 74 percent in Zaporizhzhia, and 30 percent in the Dnipro regions without a water source.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths warned the situation could lead to a lack of clean drinking water for approximately 700,000 people affected by the floods.
Rabbi Azman endangered his life while transporting Watergen generators, along with other humanitarian aid, to Kherson. He encountered Russian fire while in the city.
Miraculously, the rabbi reached his destination together with the Watergen units, which will address the urgent need for clean water in these areas.
Rabbi Azman expressed appreciation for the life-saving technology provided by Watergen but emphasized the urgent requirement for more machines. He appealed to potential supporters and helpers to contribute additional generators to Ukraine.
“These special machines, generously donated by kind benefactors, have been operational in the village of Anatevka for a while,” Azman stated. “Recently, we have been deploying them across multiple cities in Ukraine, including the disaster-stricken Kherson, which faces an acute shortage of drinking water due to the dam’s destruction. This technology is life-saving, and we are committed to distributing it as extensively as possible.”
Watergen has previously donated its water-generating machines to crisis regions like Syria and the Gaza Strip. In collaboration with the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees (MFA), the company supplied an atmospheric water generator to a Syrian medical facility last year, addressing the critical need for clean water due to the ongoing civil war.
In 2020, Watergen initiated a project in the Gaza Strip to mitigate chronic water shortages, providing generators capable of producing up to 6,000 liters of water daily. Given the critical state of the local aquifer, there’s a heavy reliance on imported bottled water. One such generator, donated to the Al-Rantisi Medical Center, began supplying clean water to the hospital’s pediatric cancer ward just a day after delivery.
