This Engineer’s Solar Tech Has Kept Clean Water Flowing After Hurricane Melissa
When Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica with 195 mph winds on October 28, it claimed dozens of lives, knocked out electricity, and disrupted water supplies for half a million people. But in Accompong, a remote Maroon community in the mountains of Cockpit Country, clean water continued to flow thanks to a solar-powered atmospheric water generator.
A Solar-Powered Atmospheric Water Generator
As the Category 5 storm collapsed power grids and water systems across the island, Accompong’s self-sustaining water generator continued pulling humidity from the air and turning it into nearly 400 gallons of clean, drinkable water each day, according to a press release.
“If we can make water in a hurricane, we can make it anywhere,” said Moses West, founder of AWG Contracting and the engineer behind the innovation. “This technology gives communities control over the most basic resource on earth: using nothing but sunlight and air.”
The machine was briefly disabled when hurricane-force winds flipped the 40-foot container housing it, but local technicians, guided remotely by AWG engineers, had it back online within 48 hours. “Despite being flipped and battered… the AWG survived,” said Chief Richard Currie, State of Accompong. “That is not only a technological triumph—it is a humanitarian victory.”
Entirely solar-powered, the system is the only fully renewable, off-grid water solution currently operating in Jamaica.
Tackling Water Insecurity
Moses West created AWG Contracting to deliver safe drinking water where conventional systems can’t. His technology has already been deployed in Flint, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; and Puerto Rico, communities where Black and underserved populations have historically borne the brunt of water insecurity.
“We designed this technology to do one thing—save lives,” he said. “The fact that the machine kept producing water when everything else failed shows what renewable resilience really means.”
AWG Contracting is now expanding US production through a $25 million clean-manufacturing project, aiming to deploy more units worldwide in response to growing climate threats.
Climate Resilience
Hurricane Melissa is now ranked among the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record. Scientists say climate change increases the probability of very intense storms due to warmer ocean temperatures.
According to a World Weather Attribution study, sea surface temperatures in the region were around 1.3°C higher thanaverage. An Imperial College Storm Model showed that climate change increased rainfall by 16% and wind speeds by 7%. Despite contributing the least to global carbon emissions, nations like Jamaica face the most severe consequences.
Two weeks after landfall, the Jamaican Public Service, the country’s only electricity utility, reports that a third of its customers remain without power. Many rural areas are still cut off, with no access to running water. Amid the devastation, Accompong’s solar-powered water system highlights the potential of off-grid, renewable infrastructure in an increasingly volatile climate future.
Image credit: AWG Contracting
