He spends his days beside it, fine-tuning the repurposed 20-foot shipping container, which is capable of producing 3,500 gallons of water daily and holding 528 gallons in storage.

Residents initially approached the machine and him with curiosity and skepticism, West said. They asked questions about how it worked and whether the water was clean. They also worried that he would return to the mainland and leave them to fend for themselves in the rubble of a paradise lost.

The machine is called an atmospheric water generator. It cools humid air until the water transforms from a gas to a liquid, otherwise known as condensation. The device pulls water from its gas form and filters it. The final product is clean, drinkable water.

The technology is more than a decade old, but the machines haven’t caught on, in part because few people know about them. The low market demand helps keep the price tag high, which again discourages potential buyers.

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