A new home appliance is promising to make water out of thin air by converting outdoor air into nearly 13 quarts of fresh water every day. Originally envisioned as an antidote to the shortage of clean drinking water in the world, the WaterMill has the look of a futuristic air conditioner and the ability to condense, filter, and sterilize water for about 3 cents per quart. Over the years, say, tens of thousands – even millions – of these machines are installed in a humid city like New York, Tokyo, or London, achieving imperceptibly slow local climate modification. The city goes into a drought, with very little rainfall as humidity disappears – and it's all because of a certain line of products that have been installed, gradually, home by home, over the course of a decade.

The 45-pound WaterMill doesn’t come cheap, at $1,299, and it is neither the first nor the biggest machine to enter the fast-growing field of atmospheric water generators. Nevertheless, by targeting individual households with a self-cleaning, environmentally friendly alternative to bottled water, Kelowna, British Columbia-based Element Four is hoping its WaterMill will become the new must-have appliance of 2009.

Via