Water Solution available

[Electrode]

There is no argue at this stage that water shortage is a real concern for every South African. Not just for farmers and for industry, but also for the general house hold. I have seen very little published about the system I will be introducing below. It is of note that sources did reveal previous publications of the same company and there technology.

Still more awareness couldn't hurt. I decided to post this threat in the general chat section. My hope is to create more awareness of the technology and ho we as south Africans can benefit from this technology. Please copy and share the links to help with the awareness campaign.

Also a disclaimer, i am not earning from this, i am not affiliated in any way or form. This is strictly to try and help my fellow South African.

http://ecoloblue.com/

400000 (four hundred thousand) Liter water per day can do much to add to our existing water resources and help places with little to no water resources.

Please watch both the videos and judge for yourself.

Thank you for taking note of this Thread.

[Justloadit]

Nice ideas here.

The first video seems to be a concept based video. The cost is going to be huge if it has to occupy 500 square meters and with 1MWatt wind turbines, I did not catch the amount of energy from the solar panels.
The second video seems to be a complete unit, however what is not discussed is the amount of energy required to get the water from the air, and the actual cost of the unit.

Effectively this is a refrigeration system, which cools the air to cause the water in the air to condensate. The more humid the air the more effective the system is.

Hmmm interesting to find out the cost per litre

[Electrode]

Nice ideas here.

The first video seems to be a concept based video. The cost is going to be huge if it has to occupy 500 square meters and with 1MWatt wind turbines, I did not catch the amount of energy from the solar panels.
The second video seems to be a complete unit, however what is not discussed is the amount of energy required to get the water from the air, and the actual cost of the unit.

Effectively this is a refrigeration system, which cools the air to cause the water in the air to condensate. The more humid the air the more effective the system is.

Hmmm interesting to find out the cost per litre

Considering what is at stake, I am not to worried about power consumption. 1 Megawatt of energy is not a lot considering how much water is being generated. Having background in how power stations are being utilized I assure you that it is minor consumption compared to basic infrastructures. I am not concerned about it. The country can afford these systems and even some private individuals. It will give us a reliable water source for agriculture, thus investing in such systems can be fruitful, and can act as a long term solution in very dry places.

I think cost must be a secondary consideration, we need these systems because our water supply is under immense pressure. These systems will change that. Stability is very important and in time as technology gets better cost may well go down.

[Phil Cooper]

We visited our son on the little island of Aruba, in the Caribbean this year.

This island is - lieterally - a desert, 30km long, and 4km wide at widest point. NO natiral water.

WHO says Aruba has best drinking water in the world.

It desalinates from the sea bu heating (boiling) the sea water, and chills the steam to cause water to condense.

But - wait - one further step. The heated water generates electricity, and powers the island. Water and electricity from one source...

Now - what other country do we know that has a water and electricity generation problem? MMM - let me think....

[AndyD]

.......Now - what other country do we know that has a water and electricity generation problem? MMM - let me think....

It's on the tip of my tongue Phil but I just can't quite think of it at the moment

At 2mins 30sec in the top video it mentions vegetation and trees needed to produce humidity in the air and it shows ponds and water features, why not just filter that water rather than using an enormous refrigeration unit as a dehumidifier? Maybe I'm missing something but I'm not finding it easy to get excited about what looks like standard dehumidifiers.

[Justloadit]

NOTE - Dry regions have very little humidity in the air, so it will not condense water from the air as per the video. This is the reason that stuff does not rust so quickly up on the highveld.

Anyone who uses compressors knows what this means. Our 10HP compressor, which runs most of the day, during the winter months does not condense more than 5 litres a day, however in summer, when the rains come, it can condense 20 litres a day. This has to do with the amount of condensation in the air. At the coast, the relatively humidity is very high, so the plant would work well, but in the karoo, it will create far less water for the same amount of fuel spent.

If it was so easy there would be many plants already running. I know one of the South American countries is using a very large condensator successfully, but it has been placed in the path of the winds blowing over the ocean which is carrying a large amount of relative humidity.

Lets not get too enthusiastic about this process until we get all the facts. Very much like the huge hype in the UK with wind turbines, which in the end are not as successful as the marketing material advocates. I think a better option is using the sun to boil sea water and then condensate the steam to get the clean water. Just remember that this water is distilled water and requires the addition of the minerals to make it drinkable.

[Electrode]

It is hard to ignore the fact that we need this type of technology. Consider that the water can be transported or piped to where it is needed. With 10 of these plants operating for 10 days one can supplement a incredible amount of water into our existing dams and river. Consider for a moment 5 of the large plants get erected in every suitable city across the country. What effect will it have on our water supply as a whole? Even if these large plants don't operate at 100% efficiency it is still a green system meaning it is off the grid and can also be supplemented with grid power when 100% efficiency is needed or when power is available.

[Justloadit]

I think that this is a better and more inexpensive solution even at purifying grey water
Desalination process

[Dave A]

The technology has got some local exposure, I see.

I saw Ray de Vries punting this on GMSA a couple of weeks ago. And there's also some info online with an SA bias.

http://www.techcentral.co.za/sa-firm-squeezes-water-from-thin-air/58025/

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...air-20151029-2

Scanning through those two articles, there are a few notable points. From the first -

“Bottled water is R3 to R20/litre. Our water costs at most about R2,20/litre during amortisation of the capital expense. Once amortised, you’ll be paying around 70c/litre.”

Energy consumption is not insignificant, however. A 100-litre/day unit consumes about 1,5kW of electricity, or a little less than a domestic kettle.
---
The water produced by Cirrus’s AWG technology is slightly alkaline, he says. Filters remove particulates, and hydrogen sulfide — the gas that causes acid rain — in South Africa’s atmosphere is so low it doesn’t have an impact on water quality.
---
For peak production, relative humidity must be above 40%. In arid areas, it will often fall below that level during the day, but at night, when the temperature is lower, humidity rises, even in deserts.

From the second -

The smallest machine made up to 32 litres in 24 hours, while the largest one made up to 1 500 litres a day. They retail for R25 000 and R785 000 respectively.

[Electrode]

I am not really concerned about the cost at this stage. I would like to see our engineers and universities take a swing at this technology and come up with something that we can use locally, and also manufacture locally. Then it can become a local sustainable industry rather then another import solution. That said if we must import it then we must, I would like to see our farmers have a reliable water source so that South Africa can at least feed itself.

[Electrode]

The smallest machine made up to 32 litres in 24 hours, while the largest one made up to 1 500 litres a day. They retail for R25 000 and R785 000 respectively.

In coming years South Africa will need to be able to feed more people as our population grows due to flooding of immigrants and our local population. Importing our food is also an expensive venture and not necessarily a healthy one. If for whatever reason we are no longer able to import food, South Africa will face a serious situation. A situation that historically crippled other African countries.

If we can manufacture these devices locally or even under license we can bring the cost down to affordable levels. Other innovations can also contribute towards its sustainability.

But to simply ignore the technology would be folly.

[bones]

well no argue in that we need
this our water resources are
taking a hammering this year

yes i second this

municipalities must look into
this

[Electrode]

I wonder if anyone ever attempted to redesign or to build something like this?

[Electrode]

Considering how bad it is going with the continued droughts, it is hard to believe that this type of technology is not implemented. Yes it would be expensive but must our infrastructure fail first before people wake up?

I am truly at a loss for words, it feels so foolish that people will continue to ignore this type of technology.

[Electrode]

Intense heat contributing to drought - Umgeni Water

Durban – The persistent heatwave conditions during the festive season have contributed to the drought, an Umgeni Water official said on Monday.

While the bulk water supplier did not have any major demand issues during the holidays, the heat had caused higher than normal levels of evaporation, spokesperson Shami Harichunder said.

"It is certainly a contributing factor to the current drought we are experiencing. During the December period, around 124mm of rain was recorded. This is less than average.”

The KwaZulu-Natal coast and most parts of the country had been experiencing 30°C weather for almost a week now.

Date: 2016-01-04 Time: 17:02

I don't know what is worse, people not seeing the potential or news publishers not giving this technology enough exposure? Clearly we can turn things around and make it a long term solution and yet after personally emailing many news groups NONE of them took interest.

It is as if solutions are not news worthy?