At a time when only one in six people on the planet have access to water and bottled water is not always the most practical (or environmentally sound) option, inventors are busy trying to turn just about anything into water. If you thought astronauts drinking water from urine was a bit gross, then drinking water made from air might sound like a far more appealing option. And now, the Canadian company Element Four’s Water Mill has determined a way to take moisture from the air and turn it into drinkable water.
The machine is the size of a large golf ball cut in half , and it runs off the “electricity of about three light bulbs.” It works by pumping air through filters to get rid of dust and other particles, and then cools the purified air until water starts to condense. Then the condensed water goes through a UV light unit to clean it so bacteria won’t get in it and cause infections or disease.
The benefits of the machine are two-fold: Besides getting cleaner air, you’d also get up to 12 liters a day of clean drinking water. And for those who live in dry places like Colorado, Ritchey has outfitted the Water Mill with a computer that senses changes in humidity so that more water is produced.
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Image: flickr / Obi-Akpere
November 26th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumidifier
November 26th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Great concept but how many cubic meters of air does it have to filter to those 12 liters per day. Is it 12 liters per day in the Congo and 1 liter per water production in the Sahara?
November 26th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
That’s what I was thinking Remi. Another thing, isn’t this distilled water? Just add minerals…
November 26th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
It’s being done already in Israel
http://greenprophet.com/2008/02/20/163/water/
November 27th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Positive: Good, approachable and interesting writing. Negative: I like short science articles, but I’d like to see them do a bit more to proactively promote critical thinking in readers.
Not to be a Philistine, but the most important part is left out: How much energy is required to operate it? If it takes a small nuclear reactor, it’s a National Enquirer story. If it runs on solar power, it’s ground breaking. In the middle: potentially promising technological development.
November 27th, 2008 at 11:19 am
*** TickleMe Plant ** It MOVES!
That is amazing. Another article that caught my attentiom was about that plant that MOVES when you Tickle It. The TickleMe Plant closes its leaves and even the branches MOVE when Tickled. There seems to be conflicting theories on why and how it closes. I found a great site about it. Http://www.ticklemeplant.com I am excited about growing the plant with my kids
as it can be grown indoors. Has anyone seen any recent research as to why the leaves fold up
and exactly what causes it to do that?
November 27th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
“electricity of about three light bulbs”
November 28th, 2008 at 3:12 am
[...] clipped from blogs.discovermagazine.com [...]
November 28th, 2008 at 9:52 am
[...] Via DiscoBlog. [...]
November 29th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
[...] remarks: We just some ingenuity all human problems can be solved…. Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com At a time when only one in six people on the planet have access to water and bottled water is [...]
November 30th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
[...] Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com So Simple It’s Brilliant: A Machine that Makes Drinking Water from Air Clip Source: [...]
November 30th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Start by calculating the enthalpy of vaporization of water at 5 C. Then figure out how much electricity you need to grab a liter of water, plus other operating losses. Might as well smelt aluminum and sell it for water. Oh yeah… what is the average relative humidity of desert areas? Southern California routinely hits sustained single digets during Santa Ana winds.
January 30th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Who’s “Ritchey”?
February 1st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
We have had similiar systems in South-east Asis for years and I have done a lot of research into these systems. As far as I can tell, there is a potential problem in that generating water in a stale climate, such as an air-conditioned room, can lead to a bacteria build-up. Although it can be filtered out, it is a little disturbing to think of bacteria living in the holding tank.
has anyone else come across this?
February 27th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
hardly brilliant, or simple. basically like your dehumidifier at home: you know how the basin fills with water? Energy will be a significant cost – not a solution for the 3rd world clean water problems. Nice that it has bacteria control, but after the water leaves it will be vunerable to bacterial growth, depending on how it is stored. certainly has use in places where water that can be used for drinking is very scarce and where energy is not expensive, or for use in high end suburban homes where people have lots of money, love gadgets and not very concerned about energy use.
October 1st, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Wow my AC has been doing this for years and years. Its not really an invention. Its all based off of the relative humidity, which in FL is about 100% all the time.
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
About the size of a “large golf ball cut in half”? That’s wrong. Golf balls only come in one size. It’s about 3 FEET in diameter, although it does have some dimples which one pundit stated ‘looked like a large golf ball cut in half’. Anyway, read about it for yourself and don’t rely on someone else’s poor reporting. http://www.elementfour.com/products/the-watermill
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Unfortunately, they’re marketing it as a ‘home appliance’. If they could make a solar-powered version that had self-cleaning (or washable) filters, it could help millions of people in 3rd world countries. Heck, they could even market it as camping gear.