Marching forward is the theme of the month. If you have bothered to keep up with my past articles, you realize there is a need to support water capture technology. To catch you up to speed quickly, we need to mimic the natural processes of Earth's hydrological cycle and recognize freshwater is finite, not a renewable resource. There is no better set of emerging technologies fitting the monthly theme of marching forward in my mind than Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) and Atmospheric Water Harvesting (AWH).
What is AWG?
Ever live in a climate causing you to sweat when walking outside? This is humidity or an excessive amount of water vapor in your climate's atmosphere, and it turns out we can capture and treat it into freshwater. Common household appliances like dehumidifiers already do this for you if you are looking to reduce the summertime heat in your house or garage. But dehumidifiers require another step for a DIYer to process into potable water and commercial/industrial-grade AWG machines come with a hefty price tag.
Below is a diagram by Akvo, an emerging startup with a fantastic calculation tool and more information on their AWG-related products.
What is AWH?
Do you ever wake up in the morning with a dense fog blinding your vision? There happens to be a way to capture water droplets in fog with netting, let gravity drop them in a reservoir, and fill the reservoir with water. This is nothing new; ancient civilizations spanning the globe in coastal and arid communities from Europe to South America have used this technique for centuries. Ironically, emerging technologies reel in the possibility to implement AWH with advanced materials and systems efficiencies.
Below is an image from Columbia University’s Earth Institute of FogQuest, nonprofit collecting water for rural communities in developing nations.
Harvesting Potential.
Water will always be in our atmosphere. Liquid water turns into vapor from evaporation (90% found in water bodies) and transpiration (10% found in plants). Cooler atmospheric temperatures condense water vapor into clouds until the water falls back to Earth from precipitation. Water vapor provides a source of warmth for our planet, climatic patterns suggesting a decrease in water vapor over land during the winter months due to the rapid condensing of clouds in cooler temperatures.
Below is a chart from the USGS outlining the differences in volume and percentages of water by source.
Catch-22!
We need systemwide improvements to do this at scale. Harvesting potential may suggest there is no apparent need to consider these technologies. Maximizing water production rates and minimizing the amount of energy or reducing the water and energy ratios is progressing for AWG and AWH but needs refinement. Climate regions recording water vapor averages below 30% to 40% consider AWG's insufficient with the added capital costs and operational expenses to go mainstream in areas reading a mean above 40%.
Another climatic consideration worthy to note is the environmental influences of mainstream adoption; how are these technologies projected to change our environment and for better or worse? A small percentage of the world can do this today, either by hacking away off-grid or with financial resources. But for AWG and AWH to substitute or complement water utility companies, incentives for innovation, price of service recovery, and demand for water capture technologies take precedence.
On a final note, we can combine AWG and AWH technologies. This thought leads to the plausibility of generating both freshwater while providing heating and cooling systems. A research team from the University of Texas is already making incredible progress doing just this through a passive system using hydrogels pulling water from the air in both dry and humid climates.
Water Capture Right for You?
A work in progress. I have been developing a web application, cleantree.io, determining the best renewable energy and water capture technologies based on your location through my consultancy services. This web-app could not have been done without the help of my network. Contact me as our nimble team managing our day-to-day jobs are currently seeking partnerships and sponsorship.
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