Andrés and Horacio Vásquez are brothers who grew up in the precordillera area of El Arrayan, one of the major green areas remaining in the Metropolitan Region. The stream that flows into the Mapocho River passed through the land where the house they lived in with their family was located, and they saw how year after year, its flow, intensity, and volume decreased. "It was something we grew up with and that hit us quite hard since we were very young," recalls Andrés.

Today, along with his brother Horacio and Catalina Kissling, they are the founders and partners of Awa Solar, a venture born from renewable energies and which, using 100% Chilean technology developed by themselves, condenses air humidity and transforms it into water without exploiting any natural sources and with a zero carbon footprint in production, as all the energy they use comes from the sun.

"We came from renewable energies, from large-scale wind and solar projects, but we wanted to reach a project that could impact ordinary people in a real way. We studied the main consequences of climate change and saw that we could combine renewable energies with water generation and thus mitigate the current water scarcity," explains Andrés, a designer by profession.

But implementation was not easy. They saw that there were initiatives similar to this and decided to bring hydro panels from the United States. However, they encountered a large number of usage problems, which ultimately forced them to create their own machine, the Airwa 2, which allows them to produce 200,000 liters annually with technology developed in Chile by the Awa team. With this, they reach their "gourmet water," introducing the right minerals for hydration and with a disinfection process that does not involve chlorine, making it easier to drink.

Thanks to Unimarc's 100% Ours program, Awa Solar entered the supermarket shelves and is reaching 26 stores in 11 regions of the country. Andrés Vasquez states that they are selling close to 55,000 cans per month through all their channels and that they chose Unimarc because "we understood that this was what best suited us. Boosting something that is 100% Chilean, that is being done here, and we are very grateful that they have trusted our product and the benefits and personalized nature of the initiative."

"Unimarc, through the 100% Ours Program, seeks to value local products, positively impact regional economic development, and contribute concretely to delivering new and better products to our customers. Products like AWA Solar are not only developed by a local entrepreneur, but they also rescue important sustainability attributes, of which our customers are increasingly aware, such as climate change and water scarcity, seeking to address from their product a social and environmental issue."

Awa for everyone

Between November and December of last year, the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 28, was held in Dubai. Awa Solar was selected by ProChile and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be part of the Chilean delegation at this event. At the meeting, they were able to see the reality of water scarcity in African countries, especially in Chad. They met with the Ministry of Environment there to bring a water generation pilot with their technology and thus improve the living conditions of the communities most affected by this phenomenon.

But this is not the only thing they have done. "We have the conviction that the social responsibility that a product must have is something prominent, and that is why we allocate 10% of our profits to be able to bring water to communities that do not have access to it," indicates the designer. In this way, during the pandemic, he saw along with his brother in the news that a school in Cabildo was going to close because they no longer had water and decided to contact the director of La Viña School.

"I told him that we wanted to make this donation (...) We went with trucks and managed to supply, with more than 40,000 cans of our water, all the supply for that year. It was very impressive. We were giving them something that we take for granted, which is water, but they were happy just to receive it and to be able to continue having classes and not having to go home," details Andrés.

For him, Horacio, and Catalina, a year full of challenges is coming. They are working on launching flavored waters of prickly pear, watermelon, Pica lemon; a tonic water, and water for pets, especially dogs. In addition to this, they are closing deals to supply water to people in some mining operations, bringing their machines and installing them there; they are considering a project to make charging totems at some points in Santiago and Chile; and they continue to work with La Viña School on a 100% sustainable regional greenhouse, with various types of vegetables and medicinal herbs.

Vásquez concludes by stating that water is a right, "you see how it hits people who do not have access, and it is brutal to talk about it with that everydayness. Feeling that we have a positive impact and that we can infect more people to be able to do things that help mitigate climate change among all, because it is our responsibility today to deliver a better world to future generations."