Study finds new method to provide drinking water using half the energy
A new type of prototype water harvester promises to be simpler and more efficient than traditional variations of the device at pulling drinking water from the air, a new study suggests. Built using temperature-sensitive materials, a nickel titanium-based dehumidifier could pull more water out of the atmosphere in 30 minutes on average than an alternative dehumidifier system, using only about half the energy.
As more than 2 billion people around the world are estimated to lack access to clean drinking water, improving conventional ways to collect such a valuable resource would make it significantly more attainable for water-scarce regions, said John LaRocco, lead author of the study and a research scientist in psychiatry at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
“You can survive three minutes without air, three weeks without food, but only three days without water,” said LaRocco. “But with it, you can begin to solve a lot of problems, like national security, mental health or sanitation, just by improving the accessibility of clean drinking water.”
