32 | SEPTEMBER 19 • 2019
Jews in the D
continued from page 30
jews in the digital age
side the Mellen Auditorium,
where the event was held.
Yehuda Kaploun was stand-
ing next to the machine, and
Williams introduced himself
and asked him about the tech-
nology. Kaploun excitedly told
Williams, who operates a local
television station in Flint, about
Watergen’
s innovative process
that turns air into clean drink-
ing water.
“Would this work in Flint?”
Williams asked. When Kaploun
explained that Watergen is the
solution to the water crisis in
Flint, Williams agreed to make
the connections that would
expedite its use there.
Williams got in touch with
the general manager of Flint’
s
NBC25, who introduced the
men to Bishop
R.L. Jones, a
pastor in Flint
committed to
community out-
reach. The pastor’
s
community cen-
ter was providing
more than 10,000
bottles of drinking water per
week to Flint residents. He
was thrilled to replace the
plastic bottles with a donated
Watergen system. His Flint
community now replenishes its
water supply (approximately
234 gallons per day) without
waiting for weekly bottled
water deliveries.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Watergen’
s solution is based
on an Israeli technology
invented by soldiers who
were stuck in a tank with-
out enough water. Air is
drawn into the Watergen
atmospheric water genera-
tor, where it is thoroughly
cleaned, removing dust and
dirt. The clean air is then
directed through a heating
and cooling process, bring-
ing it to its dew point to
create water. The water then
gets channeled through a
multi-stage filtering system
to remove impurities, add
minerals, and maintain its
health properties and fresh
taste. After the water reach-
es premium quality, it is
either stored in a built-in or
external reservoir where it is
kept fresh or connected to
the water grid of buildings,
neighborhoods and cities,
delivering clean water direct-
ly to residents’
taps.
The company, which was
acquired recently by Russian-
Israeli entrepreneur and indus-
trial philanthropist Michael
Mirilashvili, has a local con-
nection. Elliot Grossbard, vice
president of sales for Watergen
USA, is originally from Metro
Detroit. Grossbard told me
that Watergen’
s commitment
to solving the Flint water crisis
has personal meaning for him
because of his local Michigan
roots.
Flint lawmakers have
been hesitant to implement
Watergen’
s Israeli technology,
but that chance encoun-
ter between Kaploun and
Williams, which led to Bishop
Jones, might go down in histo-
ry as the encounter that solved
the Flint water crisis. Watergen
isn’
t going to stop with Flint.
The company is committed
to solving the world’
s drinking
water problem, which affects
an estimated 1.2 billion peo-
ple.
The $75,000 Watergen
machine is being used all over
the world to provide drinking
water solutions in disaster-af-
fected regions and is beginning
a major rollout in the United
States. The irony is that the
technology innovation that
could solve the world’
s drink-
ing water scarcity comes from
Israel — the tiny country in the
desert.
Rabbi Jason Miller is an
entrepreneur and educator. He is
president of Access Technology
in West Bloomfield. Follow him on
Twitter at @RabbiJason.
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