E-Dina is a Colombian start-up specializing in renewable energy that has developed a new wireless lamp called WaterLight. This lamp operates quite uniquely as it can convert saltwater into electrical energy, and even in emergency situations, users can charge it using urine to “light up” the lamp.
WaterLight functions as a mini generator, capable of producing light through ionization; whenever users fill the lamp with 500 ml of seawater, the salt in the water reacts with magnesium and the copper plates attached inside the lamp, converting the salt into electrical energy. This lamp can shine for up to 45 days. It can also be used to charge phones or other small electric devices thanks to the integrated USB port on the lamp.
This lamp can shine for up to 45 days.
Wunderman Thompson decided to collaborate with E-Dina to develop WaterLight. Witnessing local residents in rural Colombia – particularly the indigenous Wayuu tribe – struggling to maintain a light source at night motivated both companies to develop WaterLight; thus helping fishermen fish more easily at night, and artisans involved in crafts such as weaving and embroidery to receive more orders since they can work whenever there is light (not limited to daytime work hours as before). This lamp can also help prevent fires, as children can have a safer and better light source to study at night instead of using candles.
WaterLight operates as a mini generator.
Shining for two to three years, providing nearly 5,600 hours of illumination
Pipe Ruiz Pineda, Executive Creative Director of Wunderman Thompson Colombia, explains that using WaterLight is more practical than using solar-powered lights because as soon as it’s filled with water (salt), the lamp lights up immediately, while solar-powered lamps require time to convert solar energy into stored energy, and they can only operate in sunlight.
Pineda stated that WaterLight has been patented as it is the first method to extend the effects of the ionization process, allowing the lamp to produce electrical energy and light for a longer duration.
WaterLight has a unique advantage of generating light almost instantly.
This lamp features a cylindrical wooden exterior and a perforated lid on top for filling water, while the hydrogen gas from the ionization process can also escape. Throughout its operation, WaterLight can provide light for two to three years, or nearly 5,600 hours of illumination.
Although WaterLight is not the first invention to bring light to impoverished rural communities, it possesses a unique advantage by being able to generate light almost instantly, operating 24 hours a day.
