Billboard converts desert air into drinking water

An advertising agency has created what it's calling the world's first billboard that converts air into drinking water.

The billboard—a collaboration between agency Mayo DraftFCB and Peru's University of Engineering and Technology—was placed in Peru's rain-starved desert capital, Lima.

Lima gets less than an inch of rain per year on average, but since the city's humidity hovers around 98 percent, generators attached to the structure are able to capture atmospheric moisture, filter it and produce potable water.

The harvested water is then stored in 20-liter tanks and can be retrieved from taps at the base of the billboard.

"Agua aqui," a neon display near the base reads.

According to the university, the billboard produced 9,450 liters of drinking water in three months—enough to sustain hundreds of Peruvian families per month.

Watch a short video explaining the project below: