Sweat Machine Turns Sweat Into Drinking Water

Drinking another person's sweat may sound obnoxious but Swedish engineer Andreas Hammar has developed a world-first sweat machine, which pulls sweat from clothes and purifies it, making clean drinking water.

At the heart of the machine is new water filtration technology (used for the first time in this machine) which was developed by HVR and The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm called Membrane Distillation. The device spins and heats the material to remove the sweat and then passes the vapour through a special membrane designed to only let water molecules get through.

The machine uses new water filtration technology, Membrane Distillation, developed by HVR and The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm

It's the resulting difference in pressure that forces the vapor through the membranes, causing, HVR says, the "absolute separation of all non-volatile substances."

Unicef does hope to raise awareness of the issue, and invited visitors and footballers at last week's Gothia Cup soccer tournament to partake of a glass.

Footballers Mohammed Ali Khan and Tobias Hysén were the first to sample water from the machine during last week's Gothia Cup

The device was built for the Unicef to promote a campaign highlighting the fact that 780 million people in the world lack access to clean water.

Since its launch, its creators said more than 1,000 people have "drunk other's sweat" in Gothenburg city. The experts said the liquid was "cleaner" than local tap water.

"It is hard to believe, but the water extracted from the machine is actually cleaner than ordinary Swedish tap water," Mr Hammar said. Hammar told the the BBC that one sweaty t-shirt typically provides about 10 ml (0.4 fl oz) of water, which equates to about a mouthful.

Mattias Ronge, chief executive of Stockholm-based advertising agency Deportivo - which organised the event - told BBC the machine helped raise awareness for Unicef, but in reality had its limitations.

He said the machine "will never be mass produced... there are better solutions out there such as water purifying pills".

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Sweat Machine Turns Sweat Into Drinking Water