Environment

Extracting Water from the Air

Extracting Water from the Air
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Without water, humans cannot live. Since time began, we have lived by the water and vast tracts of waterless land have been abandoned as too difficult to inhabit. A new machine which extracts water from air could change that … One evening 20 years ago, James J Reidy checked on his new dehumidifier and as he poured the contents down the drain, he reflected on how pure it looked. Two decades on, the idea which was spawned from that moment could influence where and how people live on Planet Earth. Reidy’s idea was simple – it is possible to extract drinking water from the air and there is a market for machines which can do it.

Reidy’s technology is now becoming commercially available and the AirWater machines will be sold in many sizes, producing from 20 litres (AUD$1300 inc GST) to 5,000 litres per day (AUD$160,000 inc), with the option to run machines greater than 50 litres a day capacity from solar power. The 5,000 litre machine with solar power costs AUD$250,000 but the only things it requires are sun and air, and they are both free, so running costs amount to maintenance and capital expenses.

Obtaining water from the atmosphere is nothing new - since the beginning of time, nature’s continuous cycle of evaporation and condensation in the form of rain or snow (the Hydrologic Cycle) has been the sole source and means of regenerating wholesome water for all forms of life on earth.

At any given moment, the earth’s atmosphere contains 4,000 cubic miles of water, which is just .000012% of the 344 million cubic miles of water on earth. Nature maintains this ratio via evaporation and condensation, irrespective of the activities of man.

The availability of drinking water is a global problem - there is a global US$15 billion bottled water market, a US$100 billion point-of-use water treatment industry, and wherever practical, expensive desalination plants with huge infrastructures and severe geographical restrictions. All of these methods require traditional sources of water and each has inherent weaknesses and disadvantages.

In spite of the above there exists a pent-up, insatiable, world-wide need for new sources of drinking water. AirWater machines could be the answer as they offer an inexhaustible source of safe sterilized drinking water.

Basically, the AirWater System, regardless of the model size, sterilises each drop of water within 5-6 seconds of its formation by exposure to ultra-violet light. UV light waves fracture the DNA strands within bacteria, virus, and other micro-organisms which kills them instantly.

This sterilised water is then passed through a unique patented 1-micron activated carbon water filter. (The average size of bacteria is 5 microns). This filter removes any possible solid particles, toxic chemicals, volatile organics, and other contaminates as well as any odors, taste, or discoloration. This filtration is followed by a 2nd UV exposure and sterilization.

The same bulb bathes the exit port, also patented, in UV light creating a sterile exit. The AirWater System maintains an enclosed sterile environment throughout its water treatment, from the first drop in to the last drop out -- into a water tank or removable container.

The system is particularly effective in areas often regarded as arid, but where there is actually a lot of moisture in the air. In those climates the machine can charge all day in the sun, and produce water all night when the air is moist. The production of AirWater machines will initially be done in Brazil, Isreal and China with a distinct possibility that Australia could also become one of the manufacturing hubs.

For further information see Airwater.com.au

Brent Lobel brent@airwater.com.auLen MacElveylen@airwater.com.au0415 58561607 5529 3666

at: http://www.airwatercorp.com

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5 comments
5 comments
Wombat56
5000 litres of water would be worth around $6.00 a day or around $2200 a year at retail prices for a $250.000 investment, or a less than one per cent return on investment.
There\'d really have to be no alternative water source available.
al_callme
It is sad to see someone so bright and intelligent create something so useful to mankind, then turn around and gorge the price of it so terribly. He should be prosecuted and jailed in any country he tries to sell it in. Unfortunately greed has no bound. Sad.
oldhacker
I realize this is an old article, but I had to comment on the remarks.
@Wombat56 Where I live, people charge over a dollar for a liter of purified water. That's over 1.8 million dollars a year for a 5000l/d production.
@al_callme I have no idea what this equipment costs to make, therefore I'm in no position to judge whether there is, in fact, ANY price gouging. (not gorging, which is overeating). Perhaps you'd like to share your secret source?
Technology such as this is probably going to be ubiquitous in a few years. Drought, water contamination, and over-population will combine to make the possibility of a war over water very real in our lifetimes.
pspasov
4000 cubic miles of water in atmosphere is a lot. Even if each person consumed 300 Liters a day, there is enough water for everyone for more than a year, unless I erred in calculation. And that yearly consumption would be about 4% of 4000 cubic miles, and that ignores water being put back into the atmosphere through the water cycle.
ChgoSTrider
What is the "new technology?" A dehumifier is basically an air conditioner that has the hot and cold sides in the same space. The cold side (evaporator) is cooled and collects the moisture while the hot side (condensor) rejects heat.
Why not take an automotive type a/c compressor, drive it with a windmill and use that to squeeze the moisture out of the air?