Water from Thin Air

from https://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/ ... m?backyard

 

here's a link to the actual patent info
https://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPOD ... 009184&F=0

 

very interesting 8)

hubby heard something about this on ABC radio but now I know more I will make enquiries because I actually know Max Whisson met him campaigning against depleted uranium

he may be a bit busy right now but I will send him an email and report back eventually

frosty

 

thanks conrad,

now all we need is a scaled down version for us suburbanites hey?

then they can drink their own poo water.

there are units that can be bought (expensive) to extract water from air, and they are alos hig power users so makes for very ongoing expensive water plus power wastage.

now if max could only make a unit that uses something like our turbine roof ventilators the neighbours wouldn't get all exited about one having a windmill in the back yard?

len

 

sounds like a load of hooey to me - think how much energy this is going to take to make a realistic input to even the smallest use. It may be a novel idea for a little drinking water for a small number of people, but I wouldn't want to be needing it to run a farm

 

Max Whisson was interviewed by Phillip Adams on Late Night Live.

https://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2007/1840807.htm


It's powered by the wind, so completely different to the 'refrigerant' types of water extractors already out there that require massive energy input.

He mentioned the cost for a 'small' system would be 'about the cost of a good car'. I dunno what that means to me (is there such a thing as a good car?)

Anyway, that would deliver somewhere approaching appx 12,000 litres/day, according to Max.

Also said it could be available in 5-6 mths.

IF all the above is true, it's absolutely incredible. Massive potential to reforest the desert, deliver clean water to millions, open up new agricultural land etc etc etc.

 

Yea this is excellent news, I knew the Aussies would crack the problem. It prevents increasing salinity also. If there was many of these contraptions in a horticultural area it would change the wind patterns also...it might be useful in NZ growing areas for frost protection. Obviously this water will be used for drip irrigation which will aid in erosion control by building up the plant base.

Vertical windmill— interesting idea...this sounds great except for using for drinking water in polluted air areas. Also you would have to shut it own during sand storms and bush fires.
https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 72,00.html

 

a small system - 10 to 30k AUD maybe guess we won't be seeing them popping up around the 'burbs anytime soon.

len

 

I cant listen to audio on dialup :cry:

still havent emailed Max figure he might be a bit busy but I will eventually .........

12000 litres a day sounds great but seems it may cost closer to $50000 or more .......... but with a bore starting from $20000 here plus they are going to start metering them and charging for water usage it would seem fairly practical for small hobby farms ...........if you had the capital upfront ..........

maybe we could sell up here and go and live out on the Nullarbor coast 8) 8)

len I cant see them being practical for the burbs you would need clean air to get clean water ........and of course all those city wankers wouldnt allow an unsightly windmill on your roof :evil:

spray drift would also be a big problem in agricultural areas

frosty

 

g'day frosty,

basically most would not have perfectly clean air, me no scientist but is this water derived condensation?

just wondering if then would air quality make much difference?

len

 

Len, I can't add much personally as I simply don't know. But a quote from Max's website;

https://www.maxwaterdesal.com/projectedoutputs.htm

https://www.maxwaterdesal.com/

 

got me mate hey?

ya can tell i'm no ordinary blonde hey duh shuckle.

i can't figure what he is trying to say realy, almost sounds like his system does steralise the water, but then says it doesn't???

len

 

Hi newcroft

the system on the web site is a totally different idea of max's for distilling seawater copywrited in 2003 .......... for some reason I cant read the site properly the text is too small ........ the windmill idea is something totally new .........

I am not sure if it could be distillation now you say it Len which would solve the pollutatant problem

frosty

 

Thanks for clearing that up Frosty, I'd assumed it was just a larger, grander scale of the same technology.

You might want to consider downloading getright to help with downloading large files. I've used getright heaps for the audio on Global Public Media and has worked well. It saves the file as it goes so when the connection is broken, nothing lost.

I'm just over to broadband now though. Brilliant.

 

Just one point. Repeat after me "There is not such thing at a free lunch".

We are tapping an environmental cross flow here, so it will effect rainfall patterns down wind in some way.

So is it better to spend money on this kinda gear or say planting trees somewhere up wind? Here we are back at the 'Tragedy of the Commons' again.

Gnoll110

 

that could be so gnoll110,

could be all sorts of implications downline with some of these things that come along just dunno, guess there's not enough out there about any of it?? like maybe the power hungry machines (people are buying for fear of going thirsty) that extract moisture out of the air around us, and they advertise they have a large diesel powered unit for agriculture, could the mass use of these devices cause our atmospher to become even drier?

like with gov's now tapping into the sub-aquafa, i can see that once this system is used and abused it is then non-renewable and maybe gone forever? so then what about our bio-diversity (what remains of it that is) that relies on the aquafa?

might be better if especially near brissy here we tap into those freshwater lakes on our off shore islands, for the main these are a consistant supply, and being visible can be monitored for over use at the very least.

we have one local council area near brissy drawing water from a bay island and they of course don't suffer the restrictions we have nor are they under threat of having to drink poo water.

len

 

Again, I don't know but...

Max said he did the calculations on the assumption that there were these windmills covering the globe and found there would be negligible effect. He went on to mention thats there's however much moisture in the air, and the fact that it would be recycled anyway.

The other point to consider is that the lower atmosphere is huge, something like a kilometer up from the earth. To tap into all that water would be impossible, but even if it was then it would still be recycled through evaporation after it has been used on the trees and vegies.

If these 'Whisson's were placed in desert areas they could help reforest the place and so reclaim many of the climatic changes that have been lost.

Ok, so there's lots of claims out there about this, and all of them need checking out but it does look extremely promising.

 

Do do remember reading stuff (New Scientist?) a few year ago, that there was research that showed there was a ground level air temp. drop of upto 2 degrees C down wind of wind turbines (in the UK?).

The thinking was that the energy being produced by the turbines had to come from somewhere (the Laws of Thermodynamics).

Where was the energy coming from? The article proposed that there where two possible sources. 1/ Deduction in wind speed or 2/ Deduction in air temp. The air behind the air in question means that the air can't slow down, so the energy must come from the air itself.


I just trying to play the Devil's Advocate.

One handy question to ask is 'What would happen if everyone did it?'.


Gnoll110

 

a stab in the dark suggests nothing will happen

its a big huge planet how many machines do u think youd need to do more then.....

Its like saying if everyone turns on a fan, the world would be full of cyclones w

How on earth could anyone even suggest otherwise

Tezza

 

Pick a poppy in the field and a polar bears knees tremble.

Or put another way 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction' Newton's law of motion but applies universally I think.

Our major trouble( read mankinds) is that we don't or won't foresee what consequences our actions have. This can be seen in the amount of greenhouse gases we have put in the atmosphere and our reluctance to do anything about it, and the list goes on..........

Tez as you say it is a large planet but it's getting frightenling smaller by the day and equally unforgiving