Yeah I'm sorry but I'm right out of the gate calling this a scam.
I'm not saying it is a scam but I've seen so SO many "free drinkable water!!" scams built by scamming absolutele idiots, that I'm first assuming this is bullshit until I've seen the actual designs and products for real
Again, not having read the article: if this is something with "please fund us, we will make it awesome" then you better close that wallet fast as you're about to be scammed.
It doesn't matter if it's university backed or not, even Stanford and MIT backed scam projects that first graders could have identified as a scam and turned up nothing
Unless they have a fully functioning system that produces at least 5000 liters of drinkable water per day, every day, this is a scam. I'll read the article after and update.
Having said all that, depending on where you are that can support a village or a single village idiot.
Edit: having read the article, I'm still staying on the "scam" part. For one: "In addition, unlike other systems, this one does not require batteries to store energy nor does it depend on an external electrical grid." is bullshit. If you want it to run at night you either need batteries, the power grid or a little garden gnome furiously cycling to power a generator. As said before: that it's backed by MIT says little to nothing