Rainmaker Holland is a Dutch company based in Rotterdam with 12 employees, most of whom are engineers.
Joost Oosterling, the CEO, started the company several years ago together with his father. His father, who has since passed away, was responsible for the development of the two pillars of the company, namely Air-To-Water technology and a desalination system.
Rainmaker's Air-to-Water technology uses humidity to extract water from the air, which can then be used to give a community access to clean water. Additionally, through Water-to-Water technology (the desalination system), they can convert non-potable (waste, salty, polluted, gray or brackish) water into safe drinking water. Both techniques can be powered by wind or solar energy.
Recently, Rainmaker Holland delivered an Air-To-Water installation to a customer in Cape Verde. Cape Verde does not have its own water sources and all drinking water has to be imported. The customer is originally in the tourism sector. They started with transportation from the airport to the hotels, later they added tourist tours as well. In recent years the trade of goods has been added, especially food and water to the local restaurants, bars, hotels and supermarkets. To grow this trade, the company wants to use the Rainmaker factory to make its own bottled water. The factory consists of a Rainmaker unit that can make water from air. Furthermore, a bottling line will be provided where bottles will be filled with water. The plant can produce 10,000 liters of water per day under the right conditions.
How does Air-to-Water technology work?
The Air-to-Water unit uses a turbine that pushes air through a heat exchanger. This cools the air and condensation takes place. This process can be driven using energy from natural sources, as well as traditional energy sources. The Air-to-Water unit uses a turbine that pushes air through a heat exchanger. This cools the air and condensation takes place. This process can be driven using energy from natural sources, as well as traditional energy sources. Reducing the temperature of air requires minimal energy. When the temperature drops below the dew point, water droplets will form.
These droplets then collect in a water storage compartment. The actual amount of water that can be produced varies from location to location and depends on average wind speed, ambient temperature and humidity. In order for the system to work under different conditions, the turbine can be adjusted to the environment in which it is used. Between 5 and 10 thousand liters of water can be produced per day. Multiple units can be combined to further increase those quantities.
The units are designed to be transported in 20 foot and 40 foot containers, allowing them to be used in many locations. These include areas that naturally face water scarcity, or for example, islands that have no water facilities of their own and must import everything. The system can also be used in disaster areas and war zones. The water-to-water technology can be used anywhere there is water. For the air-to-water units there are some conditions regarding temperature and wind speed.
Rainmaker ended up at Atradius DSB through RVO, where they insured the manufacturing risk, and through DGGF. The bank did not want to provide financing or discount the bills. Through DGGF, the bills are now discounted after delivery.
The company now has customers in Morocco, Jamaica, Sri Lanka and Djibouti.
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