In the second half of September, after a longer break, a team of experts from the University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings of CTU resumed work on the installation of the SAWER device in the Czech national pavilion at the world exhibition EXPO 2020 in Dubai, the opening of which was postponed due to anti-epidemic measures to October 2021 .
In addition to the complicated placement of the three-ton main sorption unit, two containers of material were unloaded for the implementation of the entire SAWER system, which will supply the irrigation system of the pavilion garden with water obtained from the surrounding air. Gradually, a photovoltaic system was installed on the roof of the building of the Czech National Exhibition and a battery storage with a sorption unit was installed in the technology room. This was tested in operation powered by both battery storage and a diesel generator, which currently represents the main source of electricity for the building.
"The water is flowing, but this is a temporary test - we haven't been able to connect the solar panels to the system yet, nor start water production at 100 percent," says Tomáš Matuška, head of the ČVUT UCEEB team, "now we just have to secure everything, because the room is not sealed before the dust and we will have to return to Dubai at the end of the year.”
From the beginning, the installation has faced a number of problems, from the insufficient preparation of the access roads to the technology room to the absence of planning by the company carrying out the construction to the extreme emphasis on work safety at the EXPO, which in daily temperatures around 40 °C and hygiene measures in connection with the COVID pandemic makes it impossible to carry out planned activities effectively and quickly. Despite these difficulties, the main part of the system for extracting water from the air was put into operation and produced the first tens of liters of water in a trial test during the visit of the general commissioner of the Czech participation in EXPO 2020, Jiří F. Potužník.