Wind turbine that creates drinking water breakthrough by a French engineering firm.EoleWater modified your typical electricity-generating turbines to allowthem to distill drinking water out of the air in a bid to helpdeveloping countries solve their water needs.Aprototype in Abu Dhabi already creates 62 litres of water an hour, andEole hopes to sell turbines generating a thousand litres a day laterthis year.Thibault Janin, director of marketingat Eole Water, said: 'This technology could enable rural areas to becomeself-sufficient in terms of water supply.'Asthe design and capabilities develop, the next step will be to createturbines that can provide water for small cities or areas with denserpopulations.'The turbineworks in the same way as the turbines currently seen dotting horizonsaround the world - and the electricity produced also helps power thewater manufacturing process.Airgets sucked into the nose of the turbine and is directed to a coolingcompressor. The humidity is then extracted from the air and condensedand collected.The waterthen travels down stainless steel pipes under the forces of gravity intoa storage tank, where - with some filtering and purification - it isthen ready to drink, wash, or cultivate with.Mr Janin told CNN that one generatorproducing 1,000 litres a day is 'enough to provide water for a villageor town of 2,000 to 3,000 people'.He said communities in Africa andSouth America, and remote islands in Asia with little access to safedrinking water, would be the types of communities who stood to benefitthe most from the technology.He added: 'If you thinkof Indonesia, it has (thousands of) islands and they cannot centralizetheir water supply ... the geographic makeup of the country makes itimpossible.'Thistechnique could enable them to overcome these problems and make theislands self-sufficient in a way that doesn't harm the environment.'But anyone ready to get their chequebook out should note the cost - around £400,000 per turbine.However Janin noted that prices would fall as economies of scale cameinto play.He added: 'We have juststarted the commercial aspect of this product but the price is not thatexpensive when you compare it with the long term solution that itgives.'Eole Water saidtheir priorities in the design were maximum water production, energyindependence, low maintenance, logistical flexibility and noenvironmental impact.The turbines have a life expectancy of 20 years.