When a severe water shortage struck the Indian city of Kozhikode in Kerala, a group of innovative engineers turned to the realm of science fiction to devise a solution to keep the city’s taps flowing. The city’s residents, including engineering student Swapnil Shrivastav, were subjected to water rations, receiving only two buckets of water per day sourced from small water towers scattered throughout the area.
This crisis served as a crucial turning point for Shrivastav. As reported by the BBC, he had previously won a student competition focused on tackling water scarcity. Drawing inspiration from the original Star Wars films, Shrivastav and two partners embarked on a project to harvest water from the humid air, leveraging concepts that seemed to be straight out of a sci-fi narrative.
“One element of inspiration was from Star Wars where there’s an air-to-water device. I thought why don’t we give it a try? It was more of a curiosity project,” Shrivastav recounted in an interview with the BBC.
In the Star Wars universe, as documented in ‘Wookieepedia’, a ‘moisture vaporator‘ is a device used on moisture farms to extract water from the atmosphere of arid planets like Tatooine, the home of protagonist Luke Skywalker. This fictional device operates by using refrigerated condensers to create low-energy ionization fields that coax moisture from the air. The captured water is then directed into a storage cistern that adjusts its pH levels, with the vaporators capable of collecting approximately 1.5 liters of water per day.
Inspired by this imaginative technology, Shrivastav and his colleagues Govinda Balaji and Venkatesh Raja founded Uravu Labs, a Bangalore-based startup, in 2019. Their goal was to create a real-world counterpart to the Star Wars moisture vaporator. Uravu Labs‘ initial product is a machine that converts air into water using a liquid desiccant. This desiccant absorbs moisture from the air, which is then released into a chamber and condensed into drinking water through the application of heat generated by sunlight or renewable energy sources.
The entire process takes about 12 hours and can produce a remarkable 2,000 liters (approximately 500 gallons) of drinking-quality water per day. However, the startup soon faced challenges related to the high cost of manufacturing and operating these machines, making them impractical for widespread civic use with current materials technology.
“We had to shift to commercial consumption applications as they were ready to pay us and it’s a sustainability driver for them,” Shrivastav explained. This strategic pivot allowed Uravu Labs to remain viable, as they began producing water for around 40 different hospitality clients.
Looking forward, Shrivastav, Raja, and Balaji are exploring ways to make their desiccant more efficient. They are investigating whether it can operate at lower temperatures to reduce running costs or if alternative materials might prove more cost-effective. Additionally, they are considering a pilot project that would attach their device to data centers, utilizing the waste heat generated by the centers to heat the desiccant.
By continually refining their technology and exploring new applications, Uravu Labs aims to make a significant impact on water scarcity issues. The innovative spirit that drove them to turn science fiction into reality underscores their commitment to finding sustainable solutions for one of the world’s most pressing problems.
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