Air2Water Dolphin – Water out of Thin Air!
by TreeHugger 
on 03. 8.05
This one’s got both the whiz-bang and why-didn’t-I-think-of-that factors. Plug it in, and water comes out. That’s it. No lines to connect, no bottles to stick on top (spilling water all over the floor in the process). So where does the water come from? Somebody had the clever idea of combining a dehumidifier with a water purifier, so that instead of throwing out the pan of water sucked from the air, you can drink it. It may be a bit much for your kitchen at home, but it sounds perfect for every office cluttered up with huge water cooler bottles. It’ll produce 20 liters of water a day in 70% humidity, which is about the amount that comes in one of those fat-ass 5 gallon bottles, but without the waste or transportation emissions. It’ll even do hot water. There’s a smaller countertop version too, but it ain’t very pretty—if it does what it says, though, we’ll pretend we didn’t notice. Via HGTV ::Air2Water [by KK]
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Can You Recycle Teflon Cookware?
- 5 Reuses for: Watermelon
- Chipotle Goes Green, Plus Recipe for Hormone-Free Braised Pork with Chipotle Peppers
- Find Your Dinner at the Farmers' Market: Peas and Prosciutto
- Caramelized Plum Shortcakes
- Emeril's Chicken Pot Pie
Wait a minute here... This uses 120 watts of power and also takes healthy humidity out of the air (causing air management systems or humidifiers to work overtime). A dehumidifer is actually like a small refrigerator running constantly. 120 watts for water? Hardly GREEN, use tap water and a filter!
nto terribly green in the energy sense, but if it can keep people from killing each other over water in the near future, might be worth it anyway.
It does seem to suck up energy. But since my wife's asthmatic, we have to run a dehumidifier at certain times of the year. If I'm going to do that anyway, I may as well get some drinking water out of it!
Humidity is not necessarily healthy, for an increasing number of people. And compared to the other methods used to kill/prevent the growth of mold, this might not be so bad.
That's what we were thinking, Phila. Adding an extra appliance never saves energy, but getting more out of an appliance is something we like to see. In a perfect world, our energy would come from a renewable source like a solar system, and the energy consumption wouldn't be as concerning a factor (Phila's blog suggests a solar version of the Dolphin - right on!). Until then, use what can work for you AND the environment - if you need to humidify the air, give this one a miss.
Hello from Canada!
Why not add a dehumidifyer system to your already existing refrigerator? After that, add a water filter and you have an appliance that not only keeps food cold, but pulls water from the air.
And if you are foolish enough to run a refrigerator in the winter, why not place it in a specially constructed cold room and let Mother Nature help to keep your food cold. In the summer, such a cold room will also help to keep your food fresh. Let the savings on your electricity bill be your reward for the work effort.
Enough whining about the un-greenness of it all, you negative nancies. Think for a minute of how we could transform Florida. Currently the sunshine state is hit on four fronts--unbearable humidity, little drinking water, seniors with emphysema, tons of sunshine.
We park a few hundred of these air2dolphin thingies in my grandparents' retirement community, hook em up to a few hundred photovoltaic panels and presto: A shady, dry, drinking water abundant Florida!
Ok it would have to be enclosed--maybe we put the solar panels on mall roofs and the air2dolphins in the malls for seniors doing their laps. Anyway, something to think about.
Great coner case (people with health conditions requiring dehumidifiers), but I somehow suspect that most people who buy them won't have such problems.
No, I'm afraid most people will take away that this thing is "environmental" and go with that.
Heck, Treehugger links to it, it's gotta be.
an amazing thing about this is that - when perfected and made into a handheld in two years - this frees the common man from the big business take over of water! This is so exciting. This can perhaps throw a curveball to Dasani and all the corporatization of water - because you can just make your own....
My dad works at Hyflux, a singapore based company that manufactures these Air2Water machines. I believe they have some patents for this technology.
Visit their site at www.hyflux.com.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Hook up solar power to these and stick them in the desert.
.
.
.
.
.
Thought it looks familiar!
This is actually produce by a Singapore company called Hyflux and retails about US$1,000, just for your info.
visit www.hyflu.com for further info.
"Hook up solar power to these and stick them in the desert."
And we all know how humid the deserts are.
Isnt this just an overpriced dehumidifier with a water filter? And how much electricity does it take to run? I am betting a lot. if you do a search you can see the controversy surrounding these products. I use the water from my dehumidifiers in my basement for my laundry. Also bottled water and public water has minerals in it which would be lacking in this product.
You would also need to probablly replace the filter (air AND water).
I plan for the to channel rain gutters to a cistern to use for gardening / grass water. Also rain water does not have the chlorine and florine added from the city water.
I also doubt there would be enough electricity generated by a solar panel to power this or similar units.
How much would it cost to have a well dug?
How to convert a refrigerator into dehumidifier to get free water?...Cause i think that gear is only a dehumidifier enhanced to produce water..eh?
We live in the Virgin Islands where you have to purchase expensive bottled water or get gallon refills at the local questionably sanitary fillups. There are no wells, most houses are not on city water and even if they are the city water is not potable. Most all homes use rain water runoff guttered into a cistern sanitized with Clorox - can't drink this either. I am seriously tired of wagging gallons of water out to the car and up the mountain.
While this Air2water thing is expensive - its starting to look better all the time - especially since it takes some of this muggy humidity out of the air.
However, I wondering how much hot air they put out - we have enough already.
Does anyone here actually have one so they can talk from experience?
Still wondering
Susan in St Thomas
About a year or 2 ago, I read about a humanitarian aid
project that (for $150 US), a solar powered dehumidifier could produce potable water out of thin air - even in the dessert. The suggested use was to bring drinking water to the poor people in war torn Iraq and Afganistan - with a photo of a mother mopping water off the sidewalk for a few drops to drink.
A month or so later, I tried to find the link to that again, and have had no luck.
I wonder what happened.
hi people i use a dehumidifier and have been trying to research if the collected water is safe to drink and so far i am under the impression that some condensers are made from copper alloy filiment and some traces of copper are likely to transfer into water ! whether this is o.k for plants and humans i am yet to discover . also the ph becomes more acidic due to co2 and other gases from the air .
im no scientist but i will assume if u live in a polluted area pollutants will be in the water
just like acid rain (same principle - evaporation, condensation ) the only difference is if the gases are lighter or heavier than air
light gases accumulate in high areas , heavy (co2) low lying areas
but essentialy it has to be safer than regular tap water , which contains chlorine, flouride ect
susan they do pump warm air out but not much and often only work between 5-35 deg c
can anyone elaborate further please as i want to water my plants , and drink myself
====== answer follows=====
Your speculations are part correct. Condensate may be of low pH and a bit corrosive,dissolving some of the metal of the heat transfer coils. What you missed is pathogens. The condensate water will have particulate matter and bacteria and/or mold. Not safe to drink as is. Perhaps you could filter for emergency use but you would probably find that it tastes horrid because of lack of dissolved minerals.
There shold be no problem using the water for houseplants unless copper is high. Test if first on a few plants of low value. Why not use it for flushing toilets or car washing or some other use that has no risk of health impact?