Do Not Mess with Mother Nature but Embrace Her for Solving Disaster Relief Issues

By Jeff Szur, Founder and COO of Altitude Water

If you are as old as I am, we remember the margarine commercials with an actress representing Mother Nature states- “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” With all the disasters that have occurred recently, and the unbelievable strength and power of these events have made us more aware of the beauty and power of nature (who would have ever imagined a hurricane in the mountains of North Carolina). The fear the commercial transmits is because we have all experienced her wrath.

We have had many very intelligent people trying to describe nature:

1. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” — Lao Tzu

2. “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better” — Albert Einstein 
3. “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it” — Jacques Cousteau 

I love the attributes associated with these quotes. We constantly discuss becoming more sustainable, but what I believe is the core regarding nature is resiliency. The same nature that creates these disasters also gives us the ability to survive in nature.

While we focus on the destructive aspect of nature, we tend to overlook the extreme resiliency of nature and how nature heals itself. Bottom line is nature does things right–we humans do more to hurt nature then nature does to hurt us.

Like Albert Einstein stated above, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

As we look deeper, we can conclude unlike us, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

The water cycle is a perfect example of these quotes. We have the same amount of water on Earth as when it was formed. We can’t create water, yet we constantly pollute this life-giving source. But the resilience of nature cleanses the water through evaporation and condensation.

Water is on our planet in three forms:

1. Solid – ice
2. Gas – humidity
3. Liquid

When water changes from a liquid to gas form (evaporation), none of the contamination adheres to the water. Same as when water goes from a gas form to a liquid form (condensation). Nature resiliently purifies its water in its time-never rushed but resiliently marches on. The cleansing power of nature that we tend to forget about.

What does this have to do with disaster relief protocol? Water is one of the most important aspects of disaster relief. It is a difficult commodity as we know water takes up a lot of space and is very heavy.

Man’s way of handling this issue is to ship truckloads of water bottled in plastic containers to the disaster site. Stock, ship repeat. Day after day.

It is no wonder that the disaster relief industry is one of the most carbon emission intensive industries in the world. While the above quote states nature takes its time, time is not a luxury in times of disaster. Get the necessary items to the site as quickly as possible.

But what if nature had the resources already present to provide for those in need without carbon intensive shipping and waste?

Enter a game-changing technology that mirrors nature’s resiliency – atmospheric water generators (AWGs). AWGs tap into nature’s water cycle and create pure drinking water from the air. This water has been purified by nature and captured by technology. It also makes the water at location.

Let’s look at the environmental impact of using AWGs vs shipping in bottled water.

First, let’s evaluate shipping costs:

1. An AWG that weighs 1,160 pounds and can create up to 380 gallons/day.
2. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds without the packaging. You could ship 139 gallons of water for the same weight as 1 AWG (obviously the space taken by 139 gallons is much larger than the AWG).

The AWG will continue to provide water at the location every day after it is delivered. Every day a truck must deliver bottled water to the location to keep providing the water the AWG is producing at the site.

Second let’s look at logistics.

1. Once an AWG is delivered there is no more logistics:
2.  To bring water to the disaster location
3.  Planning where to store water in the warehouse
4.  Using valuable volunteers’ time to get the water from warehouse to the residents
5. With bottled water every day the team must coordinate water deliveries to the site, plan where to store it and how to disburse the water to the residents. Water is a huge logistical nightmare.

Third is the cost factor.

1. While there is a larger upfront cost to purchasing an AWG, it will be making water for the next 12-15 years.
2. Every day you are buying bottled water and having to ship it in which costs significantly more in a short period of time.

Fourth relates to the environmental and physical impact on the residents.

1. AWG water is:
2. pure and free of PFAS chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and micro plastics.
3. There is no waste plastic waste to dispose of.
4. Bottled water still has PFAS chemicals as well as pharmaceuticals and has a mountain of plastic waste to dispose of which goes back into our environment to break down into microplastics. This is a very bad cycle for both Mother Nature and us.

An AWG or disaster relief trailer that provides solar to run the machine costs around $200,000 and lasts 12 years. This would bring the annual cost to $16,678/year or $1,388/month. In that month the machine could generate 9,000 gallons per month. That equates to making water on site for $.15/gallon.

With bottled water the costs are significantly higher as well as the increased manpower to ship, store, and distribute the water to the residents. A case of 40 16.9-ounce bottles from Walmart is 5.28 gallons of water and costs $5.27 or $1/gallon. It would take 1,704 cases of bottled water to meet the 9,000 gallons produced by the AWG or a monthly expense of $8,982 (and that’s without shipping or the cost of getting rid of the plastic waste).

The savings are significant as well as the decreased work required to distribute water to the community.

Now let’s talk about how each one affects Mother Nature.

AWGs take what Mother Nature gives us. Purified water from the air and energy from the sun. We accept the gifts she provides, and we are good stewards of the planet with very minimal carbon footprint (other than delivering the machine on-site.)

Bottled water adds daily carbon emissions into our atmosphere to deliver the water to the site and to make plastic bottles and packaging (and oil to make the bottles and plastic wrap). Given these numbers, 9,000 gallons of water that month delivered creates 68,160 new plastic bottles to a planet already choking in plastic waste.

So why don’t we see AWGs lined up like diesel generators at the equipment rental places’ storage facilities? Because bottled water is big business. The No. 1 selling beverage in the world. Run by Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle, these high profit margin bottles generate significant cash flow for the companies and those involved in the disaster relief industry.

Disaster relief is big business. These companies have forged relationships that go back decades, and they want the reoccurring revenue that bottled water brings. Why buy something that works for 12 years when you can make the spread on bottled water every disaster? And we wonder why Mother Nature gets angry. We would rather pollute her and generate more profits.

There is an illusion rather than truth. The bottled water industry would like you to think it’s the most effective way to handle a disaster. Celebrities and companies get the press to donate $1 million dollars of bottled water and the disaster relief companies make significant money on those transactions. It’s easy. It’s standard operating procedure (SOP). Nobody questions it.

We complain about how brutal Mother Nature is when a disaster strikes but we ignore all of the things that she provides us- wind and sun for electricity and a pure aquifer of water in our atmosphere.

Hurricanes and floods are two situations where there is water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. The floods have shut down the purification of the water utilities and the water on the ground starts to be purified by Mother Nature through evaporation. Remember the quote, “nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

We complain about nature’s wrath and the damage she can afflict during disasters, but we do nothing with the gifts she provides us with. We could learn a lot from the resilience our planet exhibits and its ability to adapt and heal itself. We just must stop getting in the way of that and mirror her gifts and be better stewards of the only planet we have

Remember we survived a long time before plastic came onto the scene. We still could package our materials and live well, but the convenience of plastic took over and we are now witnessing the result. In the long term there are many costs of using plastic that is not considered when you consider the delivery costs, disposal costs and the deterioration of health due to the microplastics in our water and food.

There are people benefitting from the SOP – it’s just not the consumer or our wonderful planet. Most people complain about the costs of protecting our planet but in the case of disaster relief, AWGs are a much more efficient and cost-effective way to distribute water to the community. The problem is that the savings are not going into the pockets of the big conglomerates, and they would rather hurt us and our planet to protect profits.

Yes, Mother Nature can be angry and destructive, but she is also giving and displays incredible resiliency. Something we would be wise to learn from and utilize her gifts during times of disasters.

Jeff Szur, founder and COO of Altitude Water in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., is a global innovator in atmospheric water generation. Szur has pioneered disaster relief technology, supplied clean water to underserved communities worldwide, and earned recognition from Forbes, The Weather Channel, and the US Marines to name a few. His AWG’s ranks among Food & Beverage Magazine’s Top Fall Products, and recent partnerships, including a self-sustaining yacht project, continue to push the boundaries of water independence.