DIY: getting water from air

Arturo Vittori, WarkaWater tower, Smithsonian Magazine

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Yesterday fellow G+ poster +Lacerant Plainer published an article on a structure that produces "Water from thin air." Lacerant wondered why this concept hasn't been developed more.  And so did I.

Called a WarkaWater tower by the architect Arturo Vittori who designed it, this airwell, is a passive device (requires no energy input) that can be made from bamboo and nylon by hand. Information on the Warka project can be found at Architecture and Vision.

Online Vittori's idea is quite popular--just do a search on 'Warkawater 2014.'  A good article on it can be found at the Smithsonian site. The tower is considered an elegant solution to collecting water, especially in less developed areas.  Finding potable water is rapidly becoming a worldwide problem badly needing a solution, as explained by HowStuffWorks:

Water is becoming an increasingly important issue in the developed world. But this issue is nothing new for other, less developed nations. For centuries, clean drinking water has been hard to come by for many populations, especially the poor. In some areas, water may be available, but it's often disease-ridden, and drinking it can be fatal. In other areas, a viable water supply is sim­ply not available at all.

With all the crowdfunding sites available you'd think someone would have jumped on one, but none lists 'WarkaWater' or 'Warka' as a current project.  If you'd like to look yourself, Forbes has a list of the top ten crowdfunding sites.  Matt Damon's Water.org make no mention of the concept.

While looking for reasons (besides funding) why this project hasn't taken off, I hit on acceptance by the Ethiopians, atmospheric availability of water vapor, and drinkability of condensed water.  Take a look at the Modern Survivor Magazine for a how-to on water from condensation. Found during my search process is an interesting paper (PDF format) on "Health Risks from Drinking Demineralised Water," published by the World Health Organization (WHO).  Another source of interesting information is this page on Ethiopian social etiquette.

Other water-from-air concepts presented but not fully developed are Edward Linacre's Airdrop, winner of the 2011 Dyson Award prize, and Phil Pauley’s Solar Cucumber.  Both are discussed at Green Prophet.

My conclusion?  Talking about, even admiring, a concept is not the same as bringing it to market.  To parrot a quote I found at the Green Prophet (link above):

The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.  ~Isak Dinesen

-- Marge