Innovation StoryboardLiquid of Life LLC

Implementing a sustainable source of drinking water

Started: January 2011Completed and implemented: May 2011

Liquid of Life• Established in 2009, located in Dubai and Sharjah• Provider of sustainable, cost effective, quality

drinking water solutions • Products: Air-to-water systems, bespoke water

filtration systems • Educate, inform and advise on issues of water

management• Clients include: TDIC, Microsoft, Crown

Relocations, Pampa Industries, Matrix PR…

Implementing an Air-to-water system in a school in Sharjah - Background

• Sharjah English School (SES), committed to reducing and eliminating the use of plastic bottled water throughout the school.

• SES had previously installed a water filtration system which was inadequate leaving no option for the school but to revert back to purchasing plastic bottled water.

• An air-to-water system was considered as a potential solution to meet the drinking water needs of the school.

• The project was given a high priority and a pilot project was agreed and implemented.

Implementing an Air-to-water system in a school in Sharjah - Background

• A number of alternatives were considered including a reverse osmosis system, however there would be a high water wastage associated with such a system as it would waste 4 liters of water for every 1 liter dispensed.

• Conventional filtration systems were inadequate due to the quality of the output water as the quality of the input water was very poor. The input water supply had a high TDS level.

Air-to-water Pilot• A team of engineers were trained to install a

pilot system which consisted of one large water generator, one StandUp Dispenser.

1. Water is extracted from the humidity in the air2. Purified and stored3. Kept pure, healthy and clean with Ozone

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Air-to-water Pilot• The Pilot project was supported entirely by

Liquid of Life.• The Pilot was important to gauge feedback

from students, staff members, parents and also the Board of Governors.

• The Pilot also gave us an opportunity to test the water output specifically for the school to ensure quality drinking water standards were maintained.

• The Pilot lasted for one month.

Process• Site survey was conducted to feed into a feasibility

report, including installation plans, costings as well as environmental and social benefits.

• Risks in the system were identified, including water generation capacity on a fuller scale and water quality assurance.

• Adequate water meters were sourced to determine correctly when filter changes would be required.

• High quality external and internal piping was sourced to keep future maintenance costs down.

Pilot Results/ Full Scale Implementation

• The Pilot was extremely successful with positive feedback from staff and students. • Zero complaints• Full support and financial sign off was obtained from the Board of Governors at the

school following various meetings.• Further site surveys were conducted to implement a full scale air-to-water system.

Three separate air-to-water systems were implemented in the Primary School section, Foundation and Sports hall. A more centralized system would not have been feasible and would have required more infrastructure.

• Ideal locations were selected to keep the water generators in areas which were well shaded and also away from students.

• Additional shading was built for some dispensers which were placed outside, namely in the playground.

• 3 quality 7-layer external water tanks were sourced capable of holding a combined capacity of over 2,000 liters.

• Implementation of the system was supervised in full by the Technical Director of Liquid of Life.

• The hot water switch was turned off on all dispensers so that students would not burn themselves.

• Each dispenser was checked for water pressure and water quality, especially taste.

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Results• The current system is running as planned and Sharjah English School

became the first school in the region to have a completely sustainable source of drinking water.

• The school no longer pays for plastic bottled water, and does not have the administration headache of moving plastic bottles all over the school.

• The school had fantastic media coverage, including a whole page spread in The National

• Children at the school are more aware of water and the environment.• Follow up meetings have been held to ensure the system continues

to provide an adequate supply of water. • Keep in regular touch with staff and students and member of the

Board of Governors. • As per Municipality Laws, the tanks and the systems were cleaned

and maintained over the summer break ready for the start of the new academic year.

Before Pictures…..

After pictures…

Learning• Overall the project went well and was successful. • After initial implementation there was an issue with some of the water

pumps from the water generators to the dispensers as they were not powerful enough to pump the water to all the dispensers in the school so additional pumps were sourced which are working extremely well.

• Lessons Learnt?• Over-estimate the water generation requirements.• Install a computerized board in the water generators which switches the

water generators off for a few hours when the humidity is less. This gives the compressors a rest and will help to prolong their life span.

• Paint the units white using a special paint available from Jotun Paints which reflect sunlight and will keep the water generators cooler inside prolonging their life span.

• What would you do differently the next time you do a similar project?• Submit more detailed plans on implementation, to reduce installation

times.

Way Forward• Future development of the idea• Create mobile units• Attach solar as an energy source • Using the same idea in different

applications• Reducing humidity in large open

offices and hotels, as AC units are struggling.

Thank You