
This Tower Pulls Drinking Water Out of Thin Air - ColdHawaiian
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/this-tower-pulls-drinking-water-out-of-thin-air-180950399/?no-ist
======
ghshephard
Something doesn't seen internally consistent in this article. We read about a
device, that can be locally assembled, that, can draw up to 25 gallons of
water a day (I would have been impressed with 1 gallon a day) - and, "In all,
it costs about $500 to set up a tower...His team hopes to install two Warka
Towers in Ethiopia by next year and is currently searching for investors who
may be interested in scaling the water harvesting technology across the
region. "

Why would "two Warka towers" be a target for a year, when, on the surface,
reading this - it would make sense to go install a thousand of them and see
how they played out over a year. If this device really could pull, even 10
gallons of water a day for $500 cost, it would have zero problem attracting
funding on that kind of tiny pilot scale.

~~~
msandford
I think the main reason is because it's just two industrial designers with no
connections to any of the NGOs necessary to get the $500k worth of build-money
and probably another $500k to $1.5mm worth of "let's make this happen" money.

Look at the front page of the website it's posted on:
[http://www.architectureandvision.com/](http://www.architectureandvision.com/)
Half of the stuff there is made-up concepts, not real actual things.

If we were seeing this on the water.org website then yes I would absolutely
agree with you that the two units as a "goal" is ridiculous. But since it
seems like they have no serious funding yet and plane tickets to Africa aren't
exactly cheap I think two units is reasonable.

~~~
danmaz74
This looks like a perfect idea for a kickstarter campaign, though...

~~~
jonhohle
From
[https://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics](https://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics):

    
    
      > Kickstarter does not allow charity, cause,
      > or "fund my life" projects. Check out our
      > project guidelines for details.

~~~
philtar
"Hi. We're warka tower.

Pay $1000 and we'll make two warka towers, one for you and one for africa. You
must pick up yours*

*If you fail to pick it up in X days we'll take it to Africa"

~~~
briantakita
This would be a great Burning Man exhibit.

~~~
ghshephard
Part of the playa environment would work in their favor (Cold at night, Warm
in the day) - but there are two elements in the playa that would likely make
these ineffective.

1\. Playa Dust - that stuff gets in _everything_ \- and this water tower would
be choked with the stuff almost immediately. Cleaning it would be challenge
(to put it lightly

2\. More problematically, the condensation tower/Air well works on the
principle of collecting dew that forms on a low temperature substrate. The
humidity near gerlach is close to 38 percent, and I don't recall ever seeing
much in the way of condensation ever....

~~~
jmharvey
I wonder how many problems like his would also exist in a deployment in
Ethiopia. Many problems seem much more complicated when you've encountered
them firsthand.

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shadowmint
Here's a link that describes the technology behind it:
[http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2013/how-to-get-fresh-water-out-
of...](http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2013/how-to-get-fresh-water-out-of-thin-
air-0830)

...and one showing the structure in detail:
[http://www.architectureandvision.com/projects/chronological/...](http://www.architectureandvision.com/projects/chronological/84-projects/art/492-073-warkawater-2012?showall=&start=1)

TLDR: Great for pulling moisture out of the air if the air already has a
really high moisture content. Pretty much useless in other circumstances.

~~~
bryanlarsen
According to the article, it's temperature differential that's important. So
it works in the desert, which has 50 degree swings between day and night. Many
places with high moisture content have much smaller swings in temperature, so
it might not work as well in the jungle.

~~~
clhodapp
Alternately, the article is incorrect/oversimplifying. It's pretty easy to see
that it is at least oversimplifying with a simple thought experiment: Suppose
we were to place a Warka Tower in an airtight with a humidity of 0% (no water
in the air) and with an air temperature of 120°F. Then suppose we were to drop
the chamber temperature to 40°F. By all accounts, this is a huge change in
temperature for a human-habitable region to undergo (an 80°F change), so the
tower should produce a LOT of water. However, because the air in the chamber
has so little water actually in it, very little water will actually be
produced. Ultimately, what makes the tower work well is a large temperature
change _and_ a high humidity.

~~~
sitkack
Step 1, find 0% humidity, where are you going todo that where people are
living? Strawman.

~~~
clhodapp
I believe that my argument remains a solid, semi-logical rebuttal (it does
depend on some physical intuition) to the claim that we can fully trust the
original article's claim that the effectiveness of the device depends only on
the temperature differential at the location where it is deployed. At the very
least, the claim needs to be demonstrated in the field or explained by some
documented physical phenomenon before I'll completely trust it.

~~~
sitkack
Say that instead. Arguing that it only works in high humidity environments
while using 0% humidity as your basis isn't sound.

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davidw
So does this one:

[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:LukeMoistureVaporator-
MO...](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:LukeMoistureVaporator-MOSW.png)

The ones in the article look like they're cheaper, possible to construct with
local materials, and importantly: more user friendly - you don't even need a
droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.

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stevewilhelm
I am curious how a project like this, which has been around since July of 2012
[1], gets such an intense amount of media coverage all in a the last two
weeks: Wired, Daily Mail, Smithonian, Engaget, Huffington Post, and now HN.
[2]

[1] [http://s831.us/1qr8eNO](http://s831.us/1qr8eNO) [2]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=WarkaWater](https://www.google.com/search?q=WarkaWater)

~~~
sitkack
Because of a PR push, nothing wrong with that.

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jdkuepper
The concept of air wells has been around for awhile, but it's good that
they're able to keep the costs low and build it from local materials with
local labor.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_well_(condenser)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_well_\(condenser\))

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linhat
Isn't the generated/collected water like _condensed water_ free of any kind of
salts etc. that would naturally occur in ground/drinking water, so shouldn't
it be unsafe to drink large amounts of it (much like it is unsafe to drink
large amounts of salt/sea water due to the saline imbalance)?

I wonder how/if they address this?

~~~
dfc

      It is unsafe to drink sea water due to high salt content.
      Therefore, drinking water with no salt content is also unsafe.
    

I do not understand that reasoning.

~~~
DanBC
Ultra pure water will leach salts from the body. This is dangerous.

At least, that's what people suggest, I don't know if it's true.

~~~
tankenmate
It's called hyponatraemia; check it out at wikipedia
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatraemia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatraemia)

~~~
tankenmate
A downvote for a pure statement of fact?

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zmguy
I don't agree with not having local repairmen as being a real showstopper. Any
new system requires training: fire building, hut building, brick making. They
need to factor training into the roll out of the technology, and don't focus
on training men, take the women and grandmothers, train them first. RE: The
barefoot movement in India:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy](http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy)
Tell a mother she doesn't have to walk 6 hours for dirty water, she will learn
to fix whatever is necessary given the right training and availability of
tools/material.

~~~
midas007
Agreed, it's probably the opposite. Folks that are struggling out of necessary
tend to have respectable DIY artisans that are very resourceful and creative
in the truest sense of hacker. (When you don't have much, your ability to
think of creative solutions based on what you have becomes very acute.)

------
tonylemesmer
Has anyone tested the long term viability? Contamination, dust, mildew, flies
etc.? Seems like a good idea but I venture the water would need further
processing. Still, looks like a better starting point than where many
communities are now.

~~~
ghshephard
As long as the water is reasonably clear, just leaving it in a plastic bottle
in the sun for a day or so will get the water safe enough to drink.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection)

[http://www.irinnews.org/report/79172/benin-sunshine-
plastic-...](http://www.irinnews.org/report/79172/benin-sunshine-plastic-
bottle-clean-water)

And this water is not ground water - so all of the many, many normal types of
ground pollution are being avoided.

~~~
bigbugbag
You're supposed _not_ to drink water from a plastic bottle which has been
exposed for some time to the sun.

~~~
harlanlewis
The amount of time matters. The 5 hours required for solar disinfecting is far
less than the time a plastic bottle will degrade in the sun and contaminate
the contained liquids.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET - commonly used for soda bottles) can
withstand direct sunlight for 5 years. There's leeching occurring throughout
the degradation, and I can't find any trustworthy research on leeched PET harm
when ingested repeatedly over a lifetime, but a few hours in the sun is pretty
far from the danger zone.

------
sandy23
Not just Africa, there are many places in India mainly the tribal villages
where the women walk for more than 3 kms to carry 10 litres of fresh water.

~~~
icefox
Heck, places in the U.S. need water, why start in Ethiopia where the trial
costs will be higher?

~~~
midas007
If a prototype has been validated, go big fast with multiple concurrent
efforts.

The concerning detail is that the website lists this project as 2012. [0]
Perhaps they were unable to get it working?

0
[http://www.architectureandvision.com/projects/chronological/...](http://www.architectureandvision.com/projects/chronological/84-projects/art/492-073-warkawater-2012?showall=&start=4)

------
fit2rule
Seems like something that just needs to be 100% open source, with designs
freely available to the public. If it works so well, it really ought to be
utterly free to construct, since it will have such a significant impact on
peoples lives to be able to have such access to fresh water.

So whats the problem here? Isn't this science free, already?

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riffraff
notice the design/idea is, AFAICT, from 2012

[http://www.architectureandvision.com/projects/chronological/...](http://www.architectureandvision.com/projects/chronological/84-projects/art/492-073-warkawater-2012?showall=&start=5)

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jotm
This is a nice read on the subject:
[http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engineering/2011-12-team5/dow...](http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engineering/2011-12-team5/downloads/Team_5_Design_Report.pdf)

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PavlovsCat
Anyone know if anything became of this? The linked pdf 404's :/

[http://www.gadgetnutz.com/2006/10/09/wind-traps-become-
reali...](http://www.gadgetnutz.com/2006/10/09/wind-traps-become-reality/)

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midas007
[http://www.architectureandvision.com/attachments/article/492...](http://www.architectureandvision.com/attachments/article/492/GR_LF_PJ_073_120817_WP_01.pdf)

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aaron695
I think there's probably some big issues with this article.

For $500 for 24+ Gallons a day even from a commercial perspective it'd have
value in first world city settings during droughts for pretty gardens etc.

------
joshdance
Sounds great. Any evidence of this actually working?

~~~
DanBC
Not sure about this actual device but mesh that captures dew that works of
temperature differential does work and isn't controversial.

Here's one good link pointing out the benefits and problems of fog harvesting.

[http://www.oas.org/dsd/publications/unit/oea59e/ch12.htm](http://www.oas.org/dsd/publications/unit/oea59e/ch12.htm)

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spiritplumber
“Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His
passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people. ”

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jusben1369
Sort of odd that it wants to go negative on other efforts. Doesn't really add
to the story but seems to be all about a few cheap shots.

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patchhill
Are these not powered? How do these things overcome the laws of
thermodynamics?

~~~
GlennS
They are effectively solar powered, since they rely on a temperature
difference.

~~~
stcredzero
Ubiquitous electrical outlets cripple 1st worlder understanding of physics.
Film at 11.

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davidgerard
WARNING: AUTOPLAY VIDEO. Flagged.

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stuaxo
Next:

Another Tower Pulls Soup Out of Thick Air

