<![CDATA[Atmoswater™ Research - Atmoswater™ Blog]]>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:53:34 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Thirsty for more drinking-water-from-air information?]]>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:47:20 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/thirsty-for-more-drinking-water-from-air-information.htmlIf my Atmoswater Research site has not managed to quench your thirst for water-from-air information and knowledge, may I recommend exploring what's on tap at my related sites:
Enjoy!


]]><![CDATA[Atmospheric Water Generator Supplier Links Updated]]>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:38:55 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/atmospheric-water-generator-manufacturer-links-updated.htmlFor an up-to-date list of AWG suppliers please see the Supplier Links page. As of today, I am aware of 35 suppliers in 13 countries. Thanks to site visitor Chris S. for several leads to supplier web sites. If I omitted any suppliers, please let me know using the form on the Supplier Links page. Thank you!
]]><![CDATA[Global distribution of the water-from-air resource]]>Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:16:51 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/global-distribution-of-the-water-from-air-resource.htmlWhere are water-from-air machines an appropriate and effective niche technology for augmenting drinking water supplies? I've produced this water vapour density map to provide a quick guide. Locations within the latitude band 30° N to 30° S are usually good unless they are at high altitudes (more than a few hundred metres above sea level). Outside of this band, machines are likely to perform satisfactorily during the summer (high sun) season. Locations with less than 7.2 grams of water vapour per cubic metre of moist air (see legend below the map) are unlikely to be good locations for water-from-air production—the energy cost of producing a litre of liquid water is going to be unacceptable to most users.

Please click on the map to see a larger image.
World map with water vapour density distribution
Mean water vapour density at sea level averaged over the ten year period 2001 to 2010. The base image was provided by Physical Sciences Division, Earth System Research Laboratory, NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, from their web site at http://esri.noaa.gov/psd/.
]]><![CDATA[Standard test conditions for water-from-air machines]]>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:18:39 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/standard-test-conditions-for-water-from-air-machines.htmlUsers of water-from-air systems are interested first usually in two pieces of information;
  • Water production rate or dehumidification capacity [litres/second, litres/minute, litres/hour, litres/day, pints/24 hours, gallons per hour, gallons per day, etc.]
  • Energy consumption per unit volume of product water [kWh/L, kWh/gallon, etc.] or Energy Factor [L/kWh]
How do you compare the water production rate and energy consumption claims made by the various manufacturers of water-from-air machines?

Comparison is made easier by manufacturers giving machine specifications for standard test conditions. Many manufacturers use this standard:

Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers: Dehumidifiers, AHAM DH-1-2008.

This standard (available for purchase from AHAM for $25 at this link) is referenced by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE; http://www,ashrae.org) in the 2008 ASHRAE Handbook, Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning Systems and Equipment, Chapter 24, Mechanical Dehumidifiers and Related Components.

At standard test conditions, the air entering the dehumidifier (water-from-air machine) must have:
  • Dry-bulb temperature = 80°F (26.7°C)
  • Wet-bulb temperature = 69.6°F (20.9°C)
Stated another way, standard test conditions are 80°F (26.7°C) and 60% relative humidity.

AHAM DH-1 provides details on instrumentation, test procedures, nameplate data, capacity test and energy consumption test, performance tests, and safety.



]]><![CDATA[Alkaline water claims]]>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:29:54 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/alkaline-water-claims.htmlThe March 2012 issue of Water Technology had an interesting article by Jack Barber, titled pH paranoia: Understanding alkaline water claims. The take-home message was there is no health benefit to alkaline water. In fact, "...once alkaline water enters your stomach, your body simply pours in greater amounts of [gastric] acid to neutralize it." See the original article here.
]]><![CDATA[Quantifying interest in water-from-air and associated topics]]>Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:55:58 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/quantifying-interest-in-water-from-air-and-associated-topics.htmlHow much interest is there in water-from-air technology? Wikipedia provides page view statistics for its articles. These statistics provided a crude estimate of interest from the English-reading, Internet-using public. Here is the table I assembled, with twenty-eight Wikipedia articles listed in order of page views in the last 30 days as of April 10, 2012. I started with the reference list in the Atmospheric water generator article. As I went from one referenced article to the other a point was reached when no new relevant references were found.

The hierarchy of public interest in these related topics was made evident. The water cycle must be a popular topic in schools!

The article Atmospheric water generator, with 4178 page views was of most interest because that terminology has become widely used to describe commercial machines that produce drinking water from the ambient air. The article, Desalination, had a much higher profile, attracting 10 times as many page views. For those of us seeking to raise the profile of water-from-air technology---we have a lot of work to do given only 100 to 150 people viewed the AWG article each day. How many read it is another matter!

(By the way, I have not been a contributor to Wikipedia articles.)

Table: Water-from-air relevant topics in Wikipedia

Wikipedia Article
Water cycle
Reverse osmosis
Desalination
Drinking water
Water resources
Rainwater harvesting
Water crisis
Cloud seeding
Dew
Solar still
Water distribution on Earth
Atmospheric water generator
Seawater greenhouse
Peak water
Solar desalination
Water stress
Air well (condenser)
Water security
Watermaker
Fog collection
Solar humidification
Sahara Forest Project
Fog fence
Atmospheric moisture extraction
Whisson Windmill
Dewvaporation
Moisture farm
Water from air (redirected to Atmospheric water generator)
Views in last 30 days as of April 10, 2012
104299
63147
40130
38215
31268
23797
17959
16242
10514
6557
4523
4178
3378
3179
2957
2751
2747
1325
1128
932
514
462
395
294
272
168
137
23
]]><![CDATA[Project Management contract with BC Hydro concluded successfully]]>Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:07:15 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2012/04/project-management-contract-with-bc-hydro-concluded-successfully.htmlMy ten-month duration project management contract with BC Hydro's Load Analysis Department came to it's scheduled end on March 30. The main task was to bring the Residential End-Use Metering Project (REUMP) Phase 3 into its operational stage by installing energy-recorder devices at each outlet in thirteen volunteer households in Metro Vancouver. Data will be collected during the next two years by the Load Analysis Department to develop up-to-date knowledge about appliance and lighting loads.

Now I will re-focus on water-from-air technology development!
]]><![CDATA[Water pseudo-science]]>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:33:50 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2011/04/water-pseudo-science.htmlI was reminded about water pseudo-science during a discussion today. If you are curious about terminology seen at some water-from-air system provider's websites---Pi Water, Alkaline Water, and so on, I recommend visiting Stephen Lower's website. He is a retired chemistry professor from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada.
]]><![CDATA[Three new questions answered at the WFA FAQ page ]]>Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:17:21 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2011/04/three-new-questions-answered-at-the-wfa-faq-page.htmlA site visitor contributed three useful new questions to the WFA FAQ page. Thank you!
]]><![CDATA[Water-from-Air Potential analyses are now available for download]]>Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:14:01 -0800http://www.atmoswater.com/1/post/2011/04/water-from-air-potential-analyses-are-now-available-for-download.htmlWater-from-Air Potential analyses for eighteen selected cities are now available for download in the Knowledge Products section of this website. These analyses are machine and method independent. The reports can be used to evaluate whether or not water-from-air systems are practical for use at a site. I've quantified the water-from-air potential at each site with a relative index. An index of 1.00 means a water-from-air system will perform at its specified water production rating (specified at standard conditions of 26.7 C air temperature and 60% relative humidity). El Paso, Texas has an annual index of 0.46 while Miami, Florida has an annual index of 1.04.]]>