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Maxwake
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2016 08:28pm
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Hey all OTG folks. Check out the video on this site. If this works, its a game-changer for the world. I have no involvement with the project in any way so this is not promotional.
www.waterseer.org
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FishHog
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2016 08:06am
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that is pretty cool. Think I want one at the cabin.
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LoonWhisperer
Member
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2016 10:46am
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Whoa! If it works as claimed, I am officially interested.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2016 07:30pm
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That is a unique idea- passive, so it requires little cost to operate, and the source is unlimited. But it produces a limited amount of water on a daily basis. There is a place for this, but it is not going to solve the whole problem. You can't water crops with it.
But the main issue with lack of clean water in many areas is politics rather than an absence of appropriate technology. For instance- in rural India programs have been implemented to make large water purification facilities and the piping required to take the clean water to rural villages. But this is expensive and most Indians can't afford the expensive water bill that comes with it. Other programs have been implemented where a small scale water filtration facility is installed in each village, and maintained by the villagers. The cost to the local people is far lower and the machinery easily maintained. But with this system, large contractors who would build the large centralized water plants and piping networks are left out of the picture. They would prefer that millions of donated dollars be spent constructing a water system that the locals cannot afford, and thus cannot be maintained in the long run, because they make a lot of money in the installation.
Sometimes technology is the solution, but if politics interferes with the use of the technology, it won't get implemented.
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rockies
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2016 07:45pm - Edited by: rockies
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I think the main focus is that it provides water without any impurities or chemicals in it. With a cabin out in the middle of nowhere the main options for water are hauling it in, drilling or digging a well, bringing it up from a stream or lake or harvesting rainwater. Other than hauling water in you still have to filter and purify all the other forms in order to make it safe to drink.
With this device you can provide for most if not all of your cooking and drinking water each day. Getting 37 liters of water in an arid environment is pretty good and they say the volume of water increases in more temperate climates. Even if you decide to add a UV light at the end of the process just to make sure any possible pathogens are killed still means you've got a easy to operate system.
It says on the site that your contribution of $134 will pre-order one of the devices for you. Anyone going to donate?
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2016 08:05pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Very cool device.
It seems that with the holes facing upwards blowing sand and dirt would settle into the holes plus rain (assuming there is rain) might cause other issues. An invert'able dish on top might serve to shed or collect water as the user sees fit. If it's an issue, some sort of cloth filter over the holes might help or moving the air intake.
Add a much longer tube and a couple holes through your cabin, and you could have indoor water. 
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2016 08:31pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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If your property is on a slope you could set it up to drain to a holding tank. 4 or 5 of them would give you a significant yield each day.
The basic principle is to move air through underground pipes to condense humidity in the air. Perhaps you could do this yourself by burying pipes in the earth which drain toward a tank, and moving air through the pipes with a wind operated turbine.
Dig a hole and put a 55 gallon drum down with its top about 3 feet from the surface. Run as many 3/4" poly irrigation pipes as you wish in the earth radiating away from the drum 15 feet or so, all sloping toward the drum, all terminating above the earth in a manner that allows air out but keeps insects and dirt out. Use a solar panel to power a small fan to blow air into the drum, and out the irrigation piping. When the fan is operating a constant flow of air in the pipes will cause condensation in the pipes which will collect in the drum.
Only works in summer, spring and early fall when air temperature is greater than the temperature in the earth.
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morock
Member
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# Posted: 20 Oct 2016 12:27pm
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Adding onto bldginsp design. Use a long section of vertical pipe painted black and use the chimney effect to draw air into your unit , fan free.
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Kmcbride
Member
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# Posted: 22 Oct 2016 10:41am
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Just pre-ordered mine. $134 you get one and they send one to a third world country. Any little bit helps.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 23 Oct 2016 10:55am
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Quoting: bldginsp Only works in summer, spring and early fall when air temperature is greater than the temperature in the earth.
For the system you suggest or the Waterseer, or both?
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:11am
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For that amount of money, it rather seems worth buying in, doesn't it? Plus, you're helping to further research into one of the most critical problems worldwide! I see that they have FAR exceeded their goal so perhaps that will help bring it to fruition sooner. I think I'll be joinjng in. Thanks so much for posting this, OP!
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Thelar
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:49pm
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This sounds really interesting. Just a couple of thoughts. You need humidity, a large volume of air forced/pulled through the device, and cooling to convert the water vapor back to liquid. Since the ground around the device is conductive of heat or cold, wouldn't that also limit the devices production? So as the device heats up due to the hot humid air coming in, the ground around the device would heat up too. It seems to me the more efficient the device is at pulling in hot air the more inefficient it becomes at converting it to water.
Kmcbride - I would love to hear how this works when you get yours installed.
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