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Team 67

Today, we’re here to talk about water

Krish Emiliano Carlos Francisco IslanderHack 2026

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AquaLoop AI

Water from air

Illustrative concept render

Team 67 Krish, Emiliano, Carlos, Francisco IslanderHack 2026

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Surrounded by water

Freshwater is the challenge

~$1 billion

Inner Harbor desalination proposal

Big plans take time.

What can we do in the meantime?

Feb 2026 preliminary proposal: $978.77 million

Source: City of Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas. Illustrative coastal scene.

Emiliano: Carlos and I were born and raised in Corpus Christi. Water shortages and drought concerns have been part of our lives growing up. It's strange. We live next to the ocean, surrounded by water, yet we still struggle with freshwater availability.

Carlos: Corpus Christi has explored desalination projects costing nearly a billion dollars. Those large projects take time, money, and extensive infrastructure. But people need reliable water now. So we asked: What can we do in the meantime?

Source for historical cost context: City of Corpus Christi, detailed design/construction cost proposal with preliminary GMP of $978,770,000. This is a proposal, not a final incurred cost. https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/news/posts/city-of-corpus-christi-receives-cost-proposal-for-inner-harbor-desalination-project/

Visual: illustrative coastal scene, not a documentary Corpus Christi photograph.

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Water production, where people need it

50 gallons/day

Initial target per unit

Transparent modular enclosure

Purification and sealed storage

Concept render. 40 × 20 ft custom enclosure, not a standard shipping container. Engineering required.

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Website demo: air into water

01

Air intake

Fans draw humid air

02

Air filtration

Filters remove particles

03

Condensation

Coils cool below dew point

04

Collection

Channels capture droplets

05

Purification

Sediment, carbon, UV, minerals

06

Storage

Sealed 150-gallon tank

07

Dispensing

Built-in bottle-filling tap

Drinking-water dispensing requires validated treatment, testing and safety approval.

Francisco: Here's how AquaLoop turns air into water. First, fans pull humid air inside. Second, filters remove airborne particles. Third, refrigerated coils cool the air, causing moisture to condense. Fourth, we collect those water droplets. Fifth, the water goes through filtration, UV disinfection, and mineralization. Sixth, it's stored in a sealed tank. And finally, after water-quality testing and approval, people can fill their bottles directly from the tap. Air goes in. Water comes out.

Demo cue: Switch to the AquaLoop website here. Show airflow, condensation, collection, treatment, tank and tap. Adjust humidity/temperature and identify output counters as simulations. No website URL was provided, so the slide contains no fabricated link. Continue website segment with portability, energy, AI and construction slides as supporting visuals.

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One container. Then another.

Build

Transport

Install

Manufacture off-site

Move to suitable sites

Connect and commission

20 units

1,000 gallons/day

Proposed Corpus Christi network. Combined output target, subject to pilot results and site approvals.

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Solar first. Gas when needed.

7.7

kW DC

14 standard 550 W panels

~31 kWh/day

Modeled solar generation

~114 kWh/day

Modeled AWG electricity demand

Long-term goal: 70% solar / 30% gas

Goal requires lower energy demand or more solar capacity

Planning model: 5 peak-sun-hours, 80% PV performance, 0.6 kWh/L. Actual energy needs vary.

Emiliano: Producing water from air requires significant electricity. Our design has 14 solar panels producing an estimated 31 kilowatt-hours daily. At our current 50-gallon target, we estimate around 114 kilowatt-hours of daily electricity demand. So we're combining solar with battery storage and natural gas backup. Our long-term goal is a 70% solar and 30% natural gas system, which requires further efficiency improvements or more solar capacity.

Model: 14 × 550 W = 7.7 kW DC. 7.7 × 5 peak-sun-hours × 80% PV performance = 30.8 kWh/day. 50 US gallons × 3.78541 L/gal × 0.6 kWh/L = 113.6 kWh/day demand. Current modeled solar share is about 27%, before storage losses. The 70/30 mix is an aspirational energy share, not achieved by the current configuration. Generator and battery sizing require measured loads.

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More water from every unit of energy

Measure

Humidity and temperature

Solar and battery availability

Water storage and demand

Optimize

Choose favorable operating hours

Prioritize available solar

Coordinate battery and gas

The test: energy and cost per gallon

Proposed AI control. Simulated results do not establish measured savings.

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The build plan

$167k–$465k

Previous estimate per unit

Includes manufacturing and installation labor,

equipment, transport and commissioning.

Budget needs revision for custom structure

and corrected solar specification.

4–8 months

First unit, engineering through deployment

6–12+ weeks

Repeat-unit construction

2–10 days

Transport

3–10 working days

On-site installation

1–4+ weeks

Commissioning

Preliminary planning ranges, not quotes or commitments. Phases may overlap.

Carlos: Our preliminary estimate is $167,000 to $465,000 per container, including equipment and labor. The first unit could take approximately four to eight months to engineer, build, and commission. After that, standardized production could make future units faster to deploy.

Planning disclaimer: previous range needs revision for custom enclosure and corrected solar configuration. No vendor quote or verified labor-hour breakdown. Cost scope: AWG equipment, transparent structure, solar canopy/PV, battery and natural gas generation, treatment/storage, electrical/sensors/controllers, manufacturing/installation labor, transport/testing/commissioning.

Sequence: engineering, procurement, fabrication, assembly, testing, shipping, installation, commissioning. Repeat construction 6–12+ weeks. Transport 2–10 days. Installation 3–10 working days. Commissioning 1–4+ weeks. Phases may overlap and are not summed.

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A local bridge

to freshwater

AquaLoop AI

Water from air. Powered intelligently.

Krish Emiliano Carlos Francisco Team 01000011 (67)

Krish: Now, can AquaLoop replace a billion-dollar desalination plant? No. And that's not what we're trying to do. Desalination is a long-term, large-scale option. But what happens while we're waiting? That's where AquaLoop comes in. A smaller solution. A transportable solution. A solution we aim to deploy one location at a time. Because sometimes, the future doesn't begin with one massive project. It begins with one simple idea. Water from air. Powered intelligently. We're Team 67. And this is AquaLoop AI. Thank you.

Presenter cue: AquaLoop remains a proposed supplemental system. Deployment depends on prototype yield/energy tests, water-quality validation and site engineering. Historical desalination proposal context is cited in slide 3 notes. Do not imply committed municipal deployment or verified AquaLoop performance.