Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

Using only salt water, Colombian start-up E-Dina's Waterlight is transforming the lives of many families into energy poverty.

Using only salt water, Waterlight, by the Colombian startup E-Dina, is transforming and illuminating the lives of many families in energy poverty.





In the world, there are still around 840 million people living in the dark without access to electricity. Faced with this scenario, the Colombian startup E-Dina has developed WaterLight, an innovative device capable of generating clean electricity using only salt water. An innovative and sustainable solution to fight energy poverty and bring well-being to vulnerable communities.

Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

Unlike other alternative sources such as solar or wind, Waterlight does not depend on any climatic factors to provide electricity. It is in fact thanks to the ionization of an electrolyte composed of salt water, which is able to convert the magnesium inside it into electricity.

Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

With just half a liter of salt water, this portable generator, which reminds us of architect Henry Glogau's Solar Desalination Skylight, offers 45 days of light or, via a USB port, can be used to charge a small electrical device such as a mobile phone. Furthermore, with the help of a filter, the remaining water inside can easily become drinkable.

Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

What if you don't have the sea nearby? You can use fresh water and mix it with salt, reproducing the 3% salinity of sea water. We'll teach you how to do it, it's very simple, you just need 1-2 tablespoons of salt ", explains Juan Felipe Avendaño, project manager of E-Dina in an interview, indicating that this is an alternative not only for long-term residents. the sea, but for everyone.

The Wayuu and their ancestral link with the sea  

Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

This innovative solution, which at first glance might seem like a lamp, has already revolutionized the daily life of the Wayuu, an indigenous Colombian people who live on the La Guajira peninsula. This community has no access to electricity and their daily actions are limited by sunlight, expensive and polluting batteries, or candlelight. Of course, studying or dining like this has nothing to do with romance.



Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

The crafts we do here in our community, we can only make during the day, as we have no light at night. Now with a lamp that only needs salt water (…) we can weave, we can do many things that we never finish doing during the day ”, says Luz of the Wayuu community.

The startup decided to test the invention together with these people, not only because of the lack of electricity they face, but also because of their precious ancestral link with water. The design of Waterlight is inspired by the traditional art of this Colombian community, in which fauna, flora and the sea are impregnated and interconnected. Even the braided strap is made by them with Kana figures, typical of Wayuu craftsmanship.

Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

This community had to spend about $ 15 on batteries every two days to get some light without being able to use them to charge a mobile device. The welcome (from Waterlight) was absolutely surprising and full of enthusiasm, as it was understood that it would bring well-being. Technology at the service of humanity ”, Juan Felipe enthusiastically tells us.


This magnificent project has just won a Silver Lion at the Cannes Film Festival 2021 and we are sure that this award is only the beginning of its recognition also on an international level. For now the product is not yet on the market, but the E-Dina team plans to begin sales at the beginning of 2022. In the meantime, they are already in synergy with other organizations, companies and foundations to bring clean energy and illuminate the world.

Electricity from sea water: with only half a liter, this lamp offers 45 days of free light to poor families in Colombia

© WaterLight / E-DINA

It has always been there, close to us and we have never seen it this way: the sea, the most abundant battery in the world, would you have ever imagined it?


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