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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