The Federal Emergency Management Agency spent $361 million on bottled water in Puerto Rico by the end of January, after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island in September. “Water is the one thing you need when you have a disaster,” said Moses West, founder of AWG Contracting, a company that generates water. “We’re always flying it in. It’s always so expensive to move water.” For more than three months, West has been creating clean water and giving it away on Vieques, the island city eight miles off Puerto Rico. He came to Vieques because he heard, after the storm, the island’s water system became contaminated from leaching due to its aging infrastructure and heavy rain. The island city’s 7,800 residents often have to find other water sources. Standing next to what was the only hospital on the island, West bent over a control panel and turns an ignitions switch. “Here we go,” he says, firing up his atmospheric water generator. “Like a computer, it has to boot up.” 4740.jpg Credit The Water Rescue Foundation / A 20-foot-long shipping container that turns humid air into water through condensation.