The Demaray Kotchoni (DK) Transpiration Collector is an open source design created by Elizabeh Demeray and Dr. Simeon Kotchoni, for a plant based H2O purification and transpired water collection. Transpiration is the process that plants use to secrete purified H2O on the undersides of their leaves — trading water for atmospheric gas (CO2) assimilation– during the photosynthesis process. Depending on environmental conditions, select species of plants may produce up to 10 times their own leaf-water content every day via transpiration. Originally built for the IndaPlant Project: An Act of Trans-Species Giving, this Demaray Kotchoni (DK) collector has been fabricated out of recycled plastic that has been coated for human water consumption.
This fabricated form functions as a trough system which collects the water from the underside of each leaf before it evaporates. These manmade structures can be built from readily available refuse such as used water bottles, milk cartons and plastic packaging.
The Transpiration project proposes to use this process to produce purified drinking water for the inhabitants of Camden, NJ, one of the most polluted post industrial cityscapes in the North East. The DK collector pictured here when used with the Peace Lily plant is able to collect 5oz. of purified water each day, about enough for one cup of tea.
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