Posted on 06/28/2007 5:20:09 AM PDT by Renfield
Leaves and spiders' webs beaded with dew have inspired a low-tech solution for collecting fresh water.
WatAir, an inverted pyramid made from elastic canvas, recycled polycarbonate, metal or glass, can reap dozens of litres of water a day from the air.
The inexpensive solution could help bring clean drinking water to people in remote or polluted areas, its developers say.
"The design has minimal special demands. It is low-tech and low-cost, and in fact can be even produced with local means," says Joseph Cory, a PhD candidate at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and an architect at Haifa's Geotectura Studio.
Cory and colleague Eyal Malka of Malka Architects recently won first place for the invention in a competition sponsored by WaterAid, an international nonprofit organisation dedicated to providing safe domestic water to poor nations, and Arup, a UK-based firm specialising in sustainable designs.
Cory and Malka were inspired by the passive way dew gathers on leaves, spiders' webs, even on sleeping bags and tents.
They designed a four-sided structure shaped like an inverted pyramid, with each panel about 3 metres tall.
At night, dew drops bead up on both the tops and undersides of the panels. Because the dew collecting on top may contain dust, dirt or insects, that water could be used for irrigation. But dew from the underside is drinkable.
Gravity draws the drops downward into tanks, wells or bottles at the bottom.
A 96 square metre structure can extract a minimum of 48 litres of fresh water daily. But the dimensions can vary, says Cory, from a small personal unit that fills a water glass to several large-scale units that provide water for a community.
The low-tech approach requires only low-cost materials and is quick and easy to deploy, says Cory.
This upturned pyramid is designed to extract at least 48 litres of fresh water from the air a day (Image: Arup) WatAir can be built locally but is durable enough to be dropped by parachute from a plane.
The cost could be offset by printing sponsor logos or advertisements onto the canvas sheets.
"It is simple, practical, adaptable, sustainable, flexible and draws inspiration from nature resulting in a minimal intervention with potentially a big impact," says Frank Lawson, a senior engineer at Arup.
Cory and Malka are also looking into modifications to WatAir that could help produce energy.
They are investigating embedding photovoltaic cells into the canvas to convert sunlight into electricity.
The energy could be used to power electrical appliances or charge batteries. Or it could be used to cool the surface of the dew panels, which would allow the structure to produce water all day long.
“It needs a new dew collector”....from the book Dune!
They taught us how to make these in Boy Scouts about 30 years ago with a tarp, a rock and four sticks.
Just do the dew.
img src = “http://technology.rustybrick.com/blog/archives/002420.html&h=270&w=150&sz=24&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=8i-gm_HKy4Br_M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=63&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmountain%2Bdew%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG";
Great application of an old, old idea. More info here:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Water-in-the-Desert
Have I become cynical, or what?
I remember seeing on a nature special how some desert critters get their water from morning dew on the sparse vegetation.
Obviously someone else saw it with a sharper eye!
The only potential problem I can see is birdie doo on the collection web. How do you keep the droplets from the upper side from curling around to the lower side?
Me too, I was going to say the same thing.
What’s old is new, I guess.
The titanium, gold, and platinum in the UN version alone would cost many thousands. It could take years to manufacture. They should create an International Committee on Dew Collecting to sort this complicated scenario out. :)
The answer does not fit the socialist template, so it is forbidden to talk about it. When elites are shown “helping” quaint native peoples who are living “sustainable lifestyles” this allows elites to be seen showing compassion.
Heads of foundations, who love driving BMWs, can be shown giving help to those “less fortunate”. Everybody wins, except the natives, who may have more water because of this, but still cannot buy enough food to eat or build anything more palatial than a dirt-floor mud brick hut.
I remember that from “Boy’s Life Magazine” on astronaut survival techniques.
Ok, sarcasm off.
Water vapor is one of the most potent ‘greenhouse gasses’ known. It’s a suppressed conundrum with regards to hydrogen vehicles/machines and their output.
I have a device in my basement that produces water from the air that my wife bought at Walmart.
It is called a dehumidifier.
*sarcasm*
This is an old idea with a new twist. Aerial wells and fog collection have been used in Peru but this seems to get quite a bit of water for the buck. Good post.
I think if it were in use for any length of time - - coupla weeks - - mold would grow on the underside or in the collection area.
I think if it were in use for any length of time - - coupla weeks - - mold would grow on the underside or in the collection area.
I think if it were in use for any length of time - - coupla weeks - - mold would grow on the underside or in the collection area.
Doesn’t the temp have to go down to the dew point at the location for this to work? There are a lot of nights around me that don’t have dew. How can they say they can extract a minimum of 48 litres of fresh water daily under such conditions?
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