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Musician Willie Nelson has launched a new business venture as partner in Willie Nelson's Water From Air, the Gulf Coast distributor of Wataire International atmospheric water generator units.

Nelson joined the distributorship after owning a Wataire unit and finding the technology "environmentally sound", according to Ed Russell, Nelson's business partner and longtime friend who founded the Gulf Coast distributorship six months ago.

According to Russell, Nelson plans to partner with musician Merle Haggard to open a California-based Wataire distributorship. Russell will then be Wataire's sole Gulf Coast distributor.

According to Russell, Nelson's interest in the Wataire units is because "he's totally green".

Russell added: "He just feels that the world needs a renewable source of drinking water, seeing how all of it's disappearing or being contaminated."

The Wataire units generate water from the atmosphere, pulling moist air through a HEPA filter. They work in a similar way to a typical dehumidifying unit, except that the newly generated water is pushed through a sediment filter, pre- and post-carbon filters, an ultrafine filter, and finally ultraviolet (UV) light before it's stored.

Stored water is recirculated in the UV chamber to retain its potability and cooler units retail for $1,499.