Water Harvesting: The Only Way Forward in a Thirsty World
Warka Water Tower, video by Arturo Vittori
Photo by Arturo Vittori
You know what I’ve been thinking about a lot lately? Water — or more like, how so many people around the world don’t have easy access to it. It’s wild. I mean, we turn on the tap without thinking, but in a lot of places, people walk for hours just to get water that’s not even clean.
I came across this thing called the Warka Water Tower—have you heard of it? It’s honestly one of the best ideas I’ve seen in a while. Its simplicity is just genius! It’s a lightweight structure made from bamboo, mesh, and other natural materials, and it literally pulls drinking water out of thin air. No power, no plumbing. Just smart, sustainable design. It works by collecting dew and rain from the atmosphere and channeling it down into a clean container — up to 100 liters a day, depending on the environment.
Photo by Arturo Vittori
Photo by Arturo Vittori
It was originally created to help rural villages in Ethiopia, where water scarcity is a daily struggle. But honestly, the concept could work in so many places. It’s simple, low-cost, and designed to be built and maintained by local communities using local materials. That’s what makes it powerful — it’s not just a tech solution, it’s something people can own and operate themselves.
Here’s the part that gets me most: this isn’t some far-off dream. It’s already working — I think it could work in Colombia amd want to pursue it in the near future. I actually reached out to the Warka Water team to see if there’s any way I can help replicate the project in regions like La Guajira, where access to clean water is a daily struggle and entire communities are deprived of this most basic resource.
Image: WaterAid/ Jordi Ruiz Cirera
La Guajira, has been dealing with severe water shortages for years. Families walk miles in extreme heat just to find water, and even then, it's often not safe to drink. It’s heartbreaking — but it’s also exactly the kind of place where a solution like Warka Water could make a real, lasting impact. So yeah, I’m really hoping they write back.
Anyway, I just wanted to share. It’s been on my mind a lot lately. Clean water is such a basic need — and I feel like if we can help make it more accessible, even in small ways, we should.
If anyone reading this has a direct contact at Warka Water, I’d love to hear from you — just drop me an email at bamboo@thebestbamboo.com. Let’s see if we can make something good happen together — every drop truly counts.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. It means a lot.