Posted on 04/13/2017 1:42:49 PM PDT by NoLibZone
You cant squeeze blood from a stone, but wringing water from the desert sky is now possible, thanks to a new spongelike device that uses sunlight to suck water vapor from air, even in low humidity. The device can produce nearly 3 liters of water per day, and researchers say future versions will be even better. That means homes in the driest parts of the world could soon have a solar-powered appliance capable of delivering all the water they need, offering relief to billions of people.
To find an all-purpose solution, researchers led by Omar Yaghi, a chemist at the University of California, Berkeley, turned to a family of crystalline powders called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs. Yaghi developed the first MOFsporous crystals that form continuous 3D networksmore than 20 years ago. The networks assemble in a Tinkertoy-like fashion from metal atoms that act as the hubs and sticklike organic compounds that link the hubs together. By choosing different metals and organics, chemists can dial in the properties of each MOF, controlling what gases bind to them, and how strongly they hold on.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencemag.org ...
That’s a nice one but the rear air suspension is leaking, lol. Know that one well. Rides like a 70’s Cadillac and the suspension is self-leveling for loads and for uneven campsites but you’ve got to stay on top of the airbags in the rear.
Thanks. I wasn’t aware of that idiosyncrasy.
There’s an extensive aftermarket of parts and mechanical enhancement for these, and a fix for the rear air suspension. It was very innovative at the time and it’s still very useful and practical, not to mention comfortable on the road. But, an airbag or hoses leaking or an airbag blowing out and disabling the RV can be a problem, so there’s a “quad bag” suspension now with redundancy. Guy out your way invented it and manufactures them. Fixes the problem, even uses cheaper more standard airbags. If one goes out you’re still OK because there are two per side.
Bkmk
That’s great.
It’s amazing what people come up with.
People love the old things, I’ve found out. Guess I was very lucky to get one cheap, the restored ones are getting on up there. I’m not planning on restoration per se, just mechanical and systems updating to idealize it for camping off grid. The old original GM Imron paint has held up well, buffs out nice enough. Don’t want to spoil the looks of it, so nothing too obvious or ugly. The original generator is loud and vibrates, would love to replace that with a nice quiet Honda, but that would cost more than I paid for the whole thing and it works well enough. I do know why people call it “Onan The Barbarian” now though, lol.
LOL
I’m glad that has worked out well for you.
A guy needs a project. This is something I’d enjoy doing.
It’s surprised me how enjoyable the research and learning has been. The doing is a little tougher, lol. You mentioned not knowing what the interior was like, here’s an example of what mine would look like with the old, original, a little dry rotted and sort of wild upholstery replaced, carpeting replaced and the cabinetry refinished:
http://www.bethunesales.com/listings/gonzalez.html
I admired those in the day. The restored one look very nice. I could be a very happy person in that.
All the best to you. Good luck with it.
Very cool. Thanks!
been doing it for years - seems normal to
us, but guests always are confused by the gray water buckets next to the toilets and that toilets “don’t flush”
I do know that we use less than 1/2 the water of the next lowest user in our 220 unit complex.
Water vapor is the greatest greenhouse gas
I bet MIT’s can’t even speak Bocce.
“Right now I get by on about 1.5 gallons per day. That includes hygiene and hydration. It does not involve recycling. I have studied the issues involved with using less that that. If I had to, I might be able to get by with as little as 1/10th of a gallon per day, with good hygiene and hydration. That’s 36 gallons per year.”
That’s quite impressive. Since the recommended intake is around half of a gallon per day, how do you get by with a gallon for hygiene?
How would it be possible to get by on 1/10 of a gallon per day?
This sounds like what you’ve learned would make a really good survival book.
Good for you Vooch.
I do want to stress that while I was trying to see how little water I could comfortably get by on as an exercise, it wasn’t and hasn’t been my goal going forward to live at that level.
What I am doing is something I’m comfortable with, and it doesn’t stress me that I’m not following the procedure I did before for decades.
Both work fine for me.
The 2 solar stills that you picture do work. They are standard practice fir desert survival. HOWEVER the moisture that condenses is not entirely from the atmosphere, It actually comes from moisture in the soil. This moisture condenses from the temperature differential that occurs during the night. The ambient air temp is slower to cool compared to the earth. This is why the water condenses on the ground side, not the atmospheric side.
The 2 solar stills that you picture do work. They are standard practice fir desert survival. HOWEVER the moisture that condenses is not entirely from the atmosphere, It actually comes from moisture in the soil. This moisture condenses from the temperature differential that occurs during the night. The ambient air temp is slower to cool compared to the earth. This is why the water condenses on the ground side, not the atmospheric side.
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