Posted on 03/28/2017 9:05:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
When kids learn about the planet’s water cycle, they’re taught a simple concept: our atmosphere is filled with water vapor that has evaporated from the bodies of liquid water we see around us. When the vapor’s temperature gets low enough, it gets turned back into water.
The presence of that vapor becomes especially apparent in the summer, when droplets collect on glasses of ice water and air conditioning units drip onto unsuspecting passersby.
An Israeli company called Water-Gen does not think of that condensation as a byproduct; instead, it has built machines specifically designed to create and harvest as much condensation as possible. Using a system that uses a set of plastic “leaves” to funnel air in various directions, the team has developed water generators that appear to create pure drinking water out of nothing.
“The target is to extract water from the air with minimum energy,” founder and co-CEO Arye Kohavi tells Business Insider. “We think our solution can solve the problem on the level of countries. It’s an immediate solution — governments don’t need to spend decades to make a big project.”
Water-Gen is one of seven Israeli companies presenting technological innovations at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
The company currently makes three sizes of water generating machines, each of which must be plugged into a power source. At 80 degrees and 60% humidity, the biggest can yield about 825 gallons per day, but Kohavi says the technology is easily scalable. The company’s medium sized unit produces 118 gallons per day under the same conditions, and the smallest — which is intended for use in a home or office — produces just under 4 gallons per day.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I read about a high school kid recently who had come up with a wonderful solution for getting potable water from the sea.
He focused not on getting the salt out of the water, but rather he foused on getting the 90% of sea water that is fresh out of the seawater.
It had something to do with a polymer that bonded with the salt molecules and it allowed you to “skim” the good water out of the process.
In a very few years, I am betting that getting fresh water and low cost power are going to be in everyone’s toolbox.
SO... SOMEONE INVENTED A DEHUMIDIFIER?
In arctic conditions, a calm sea allows skim ice to form, in which most of the salt is withdrawn into the underlying brine, which then sinks. Freshly formed sea ice isn’t very good for drinking, as pockets of brine are dispersed within.
Multi-year sea ice is more palatable, as the brine drains out over time, leaving mostly salt free ice behind. This is a source of water often used by expeditions in polar regions.
Sept. 2016. Posted and discussed many times here.
Thinking about this without delving into the science-if the area is so dry/rain deprived that moisture must be wrung out of the air, wouldn’t that lessen the possibility of rain? Assuming a low moisture content of the air to begin with,and atmospheric conditions that are arid,would such technology eventually be useless due to constant moisture extraction? That wouldn’t be good.
I doubt it would be as significant as morning dew, as far as moisture being condensed out of the atmosphere. If it were a huge city of millions completely dependent upon this process and such devices maybe it would create a sort of leeward island effect and be even more arid downwind, but I’m not at all certain that it would.
Yeah, its called a condenser.
The ancient Persians and Babylonians had them.
Dune. The Fremen Stilsuits.
And what if someone farts near the water extractor?
Never saw that before ;-)
That’s exactly the reasoning for banning rainwater collection in many jurisdictions.
Yes, you can go to jail for literally just putting a pan out in the back yard to gather rain.
I’ll expect no less from the Left if these things ever catch on.
That’s the fatal flaw in ALL “renewable resources” thinking: at world population scales, ANYTHING we do will cause a measurable detriment to something natural. “Solar strip mining”. Downwind windmill turbulence. Hydroelectric dam flooding. Etc. Now, atmospheric dehydration may have minimal effect because the oceans are humidifying the air far faster than we can strip moisture out, and our usage returns the water back into the atmosphere in time - but I’m sure _some_ duly-funded federally-hired scientist can generate a long-term model of water cycle disruption detrimental to existence of all life (or at least some endangered inland crab).
Yes - one that costs significantly less per gallon to operate, and which you’ll actually trust to drink from.
Yes, you can go to jail for literally just putting a pan out in the back yard to gather rain.
I’ll expect no less from the Left if these things ever catch on.
A town near me measures property for 'non-draining' square footage and taxes accordingly–a runoff tax. Alas no rebate if you have more grass than concrete or roofing shingles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVsqIjAeeXw
This guy is a dope when it come to politics, but straight science he is fine.
When they can pull beer out of thin air I will be more impressed.
Actually this would be interesting tech- pull water from air in southern states and ship to dry west states.
Some people would complain if they were hung with new rope.
;)
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