Getting water from air, even desert air... we need this! :)

[C-Cat]

I think I saw a similar tech a few month back, so maybe this isn't news, but in addition to our solar panels on the roof I could imagine something like this in the (hopefully) not too distant future replenishing our fresh water tanks. If you use a composting toilet, boondocking could be extended to many weeks!

https://www.mnn.com/green-tech/rese...r-harvester-turns-air-fresh-water-even-desert

 

[lenny flank]

I've used solar stills to extract water.

The output is.... not impressive. And that was in Florida with 90% humidity. In the SW desert, I expect you will be disappointed.

 

[C-Cat]

This is the one I saw a while back... supposedly it works even in dry desert air:

https://www.zeromasswater.com/source/

 

[C-Cat]

I've used solar stills to extract water.

The output is.... not impressive. And that was in Florida with 90% humidity.  In  the SW desert, I expect you will be disappointed.

I am talking about a much more advanced approach than solar stills...

 

[lenny flank]

I remain skeptical. It's hard to extract a lot of water from dry air.

 

[WanderingBiker]

This is the one I saw a while back... supposedly it works even in dry desert air:

https://www.zeromasswater.com/source/

I can buy a lot of water for 4000.00 

 

[C-Cat]

True, still expensive at the moment, but as we have seen with electrical solar, prices will come down over time... it's not a solution now, but in the future (and I hope within a few years) it could become viable...

 

[Bobflhtc]

I've used a Sawyer backpacking filter a few times during the last 5 years. I set up a 5 gallon drip filter and it takes about 1-2 hours. Costs less than $100 for the kit. Nice to fall back on. Of course you need water to begin with. You could place a plastic bag over a tree branch ? but sort of labor intensive

 

[John61CT]

Recent update
https://www.wired.com/story/pull-water-out-of-air/amp

 

[johnny b]

This was one I thought was pretty cool:

https://offgridworld.com/waterseer-provides-endless-supply-pure-water-thin-air/



Not sure of its real world status?
(and diggin 6 feet down thru desert dirt, I'm sure wouldn't be too easy. worth it though for those with property in 'water haul' areas.)

And speakin of pullin stuff outta thin air...check this out:
(cheaper way to convert CO2 into fuel)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/car...vard-find-way-to-convert-co2-to-gasoline.html

 

[tripper]

They are all scams, especially the zero water. If there was an effective solution it would be used. So far the easiest way is still using a power hungry dehumidifier with a lot of solar to power it.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

You might want to look into the methods that are linked to from this page.

As water can mostly be collected from air, as dew concentrate, you will typically need a lot of surface area, so your resulting installation is likely be be quite large, and typically not something that is well suited for the nomadic lifestyle. 

But a large tarp, spread out over the land,,and lifted in the middle , will still collect some water vapor on the inside, and tarps can be easily traveled with.  Some kind of equally simple rain-gutter needs to be on the inside seam of the tarp, so streams of condensated dew will flow to a collection point. 

The amount of water being collected is however still not significant, and other sources of water is typically easily available in the (early) industrialized parts of the world, so there is no (economic) push or incentive to create new solutions, that are geared towards individual use. 

Individual use, is counter productive to the industrialized (and centralized) way of thinking.

 

[LadyJo]

Recent update
https://www.wired.com/story/pull-water-out-of-air/amp

This was developed by MIT and is being tested in Tucson. Good reports so far.

 

[terranaught]

I stayed at a friends house in the east Oregon desert his tin roof had frost in august, it dripped about a gallon of water in the morning

 

[velojym]

Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were pretty good at it, but... they're not with us any more.

 

[lenny flank]

I stayed at a friends house in the east Oregon desert his tin roof had frost in august, it dripped about a gallon of water in the morning

Indeed. If a couple-hundred square feet roof gathered only a gallon, how much will a few square feet for this thing manage to gather........

I remain skeptical that it will actually do anything useful.

 

[C-Cat]

I personally don't believe Zero Mass Water tech is a scam, but it's obviously very expensive to install and there are not yet reliable user reviews that I know of. I think in its current form it could make sense for larger scale commercial users or maybe also in smaller settings like an off-grid dwelling (like a tiny house) out in the boonies, instead of having water trucks deliver and fill up a big water tank. At least in the long run it could pay off in such a setting. But for RVs, the system is still too expensive and probably also too bulky / heavy... if the tech works, there would likely have to be a special version made for RVs, lighter and flat mountable. But nevertheless, the prospect of not needing to fill our fresh water tanks every week is very intriguing and might be worth an investment (just like solar became a viable alternative to generators for the most part)...

 

[John61CT]

The design goal is helping whole communities in 3rd world countries, funded by development aid NGOs, e.g. the UN.

The science is real, but nothing commercial for single households is anywhere on the horizon, much less portable units.

 

[C-Cat]

The design goal is helping whole communities in 3rd world countries, funded by development aid NGOs, e.g. the UN.

The science is real, but nothing commercial for single households is anywhere on the horizon, much less portable units.

The Zero Mass Water product seems to be available for residential application right now, but it's too bulky, heavy and expensive for RVs... not to say that this tech will not some day make it into the mobile market, optimized for RVs and cheaper than it is now.

 

[Eladuael]

This was one I thought was pretty cool:

https://offgridworld.com/waterseer-provides-endless-supply-pure-water-thin-air/

Not sure of its real world status?
(and diggin 6 feet down thru desert dirt, I'm sure wouldn't be too easy. worth it though for those with property in 'water haul' areas.)

Could this be installed on the top of a van/rv? I realize it utilizes the insulation of the six feet of ground, but what if one ran it from the roof down through the van and insulated it? It would be supercool to be able to generate water from anywhere.

Perhaps mine was a careless reading, but I didn't notice statistics on its average volume rate per time unit.