BOERNE – When Brian Schewe bought his home on the outskirts of Boerne, he needed to find a water source.
“I live off of rainwater, totally. I don’t have a well because of the cost of the well, and the water’s bad. So I went with the rainwater,” he said.
Rain is scarce, but so far, he’s harvested enough rainwater to survive.
“It will last about six months without any rain,” he said.
It’s worked out well for him so far. But he wanted to find an alternate water source since rain is the new gold in Texas.
He’s invested in an atmospheric water generator, a machine that draws in air, pulls the humidity out of it, and turns it into drinkable water
There are a lot of companies that offer this, but after he did some research, he went with the brand Aquaria.
Brian and Eric Sheng are co-owners and founders of the company, now based in Texas.
They explained that this technology has been around for a few decades, but they’ve found a way to make it more accessible to everyday people.
“That’s where the Hydropack came about, is that we turned it into something that is affordable enough, easy to use enough, and very easy to install for just everyday people. And I think that’s the biggest breakthrough to be able to bring that to this convenient form factor,” he said.
The price ranges depend on the size of the machine.
They explain that the initial purchase and installation are included, and the customer takes care of the maintenance, which involves changing filters a couple of times a year.
Schewe says he decided to save on the cost of drilling a water well, but the machine does use a lot of electricity.
Still, he thought the atmospheric water generator was a better deal for him. His home is also equipped with solar panels.
This legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing lawmakers to set aside money to fix the state’s water infrastructure, leaking pipes and find new water sources.
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