By Bryan Lee

GOODBYE to gushing sink taps, gurgling pipes or come to that, plastic bottles, if you want the latest in household drinking water.

Not many know this, but a quiet revolution is taking place on the water front. Within the last 12 months, machines that make water out of thin air have sprung up for sale on the mass market here.

And in the latest development, Sesdaq-listed company Hyflux announced yesterday it had acquired a stake in the United States company which holds the original patent for producing machines that can make up to 20 litres of water out of the stuff you breathe.

It has bought a 2 per cent stake for US$1 million (S$1.7 million) in California-based Air 2 Water Inc, which was founded by a former scientist of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Hyflux said that from June, it will start making its patented water generators for households and offices. It hopes to sell 10,000 of them in the first year they hit the market.

Hyflux's product - named Aquosus, which in Latin means abounding water - joins others such as one made in India that is marketed here by local firm Dewdrops. This came on the market last year priced at $1,200 a machine.

Although the pricing of Hyflux's product has not been finalised, it expects the machine to produce water at about 20 cents per litre, or about half what mineral water suppliers charge for a 20-litre bottle.

To make water the Hyflux way, you plug in the machine, which comes in two sizes - one as big as a 35-kg, 120-cm-high stand-alone water cooler that is suitable for the office, and one about the size of a microwave oven that would fit nicely on your kitchen shelf.

The machine sucks in humid air, and puts it through a patented filter system and an ultraviolet treatment system to remove bacteria.

The water vapour in the air is then cooled and the condensed water passed through more filters. It is dispensed through two plastic taps.

Hyflux's product is unique in that it will be protected from copycats for 20 years through its stake in Air 2 Water, which holds the patent for the concept of producing drinking water from water vapour. Hyflux also has an option to acquire up to 10 per cent of Air 2 Water.

And it will further invest US$3.75 million in two joint venture companies that will make and market the machines in Asia and Australia.

These investments will be funded by the private issue of 11.8 million shares at $1 each to Government investment arm Temasek Holdings last Friday.