Esjaypee launches water generating machine

Esjaypee Mercantile and Marketing has launched a generator called 'Humidous' in Chennai on Monday. Humidous produces water from the atmospheric air. The company hopes to sell 50,000 units of Humidous in 2005-06.

Humidous, which is currently manufactured by an original equipment manufacturer in China, is imported by Esjaypee and branded. Going forward, the company plans to manufacture it locally.

"We hope to sell 5,000 to 7,000 units in Chennai alone. After Chennai, we plan to launch it in Mumbai and Kolkata, and may take it to other cities like Mangalore and Cochin," said Mahendra Parmar, managing director of Esjaypee.

The technology used in Humidous works on the condensation principle and generates drinking water directly from the air. In humid conditions , it can generate between 23 and 28 litres of water per day.

If the power consumption for a domestic unit is 500 watts, cost of power consumed at Rs 3.05 per unit works out to Rs 18.60 for 12 litres of water or Rs 1.55 per litre. The maximum retail price of Humidous is Rs 23,850.