Perpetual water device

Jeff95531

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rodoconnor

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Pretty cool. I think the hills in the background are the El Pasos. Specifically the Mesquite Cyn area, my old D/W grounds
 

Laz7777

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why would you need this on a remote claim, except in the desert?
NorCal has plenty of potable water and a filter is all you need.
I drink water straight from the river, no filter...never suffered any problems in 7 years, but the S. Yuba has very little farm activity near it and just one town on it, Washington.
BTW, very cool device, I hope it helps the people most in need of it.
 

Jason in Enid

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I have serious doubts about this thing working, especially in an arid location like a desert. I also see the potential for horrible bacterial infections growing in the resevior without constant cleaning and disinfection.
 

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Jeff95531

Jeff95531

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According to the site, the water is cleaner than rain water. But yes, arid would seem to me as less productive. It has to do with a temp difference to above ground (arid) vs six feet below ground. Will it work in freezing temps? Nope. But it should every where else, even in the desert.
 

kcm

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Jason is correct. As some of you can attest to, desert air is normally very dry - virtually no moisture in the air. This device works off of wind, so it only gets fragments of water molecules when there's a breeze. And any time you have water sitting stagnant, you're going to have other issues. There are flies and other bugs there that will do their best to get into the water reservoir, not to mention lizards and maybe even birds. Dust will be another problem. Granted, it would still be better than drinking the mud they sometimes have to, but this certainly doesn't look like a "fix" to me. More like a loose-fitting band-aid.

Any tests that took place in San Francisco had ample moisture in the air - it's right next to the Pacific Ocean, for crying out loud!! El Paso can be pretty dry, but still is not as dry as the desert regions where these things are supposed to help people.
 

Jason in Enid

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According to the site, the water is cleaner than rain water. But yes, arid would seem to me as less productive. It has to do with a temp difference to above ground (arid) vs six feet below ground. Will it work in freezing temps? Nope. But it should every where else, even in the desert.

No, I understand the theory they are using. I am saying it's not feasible. The temperature difference would not be enough to create moisture condensation except for extremely humid and cool surface conditions. Next time you watch your local weather, look at what the dewpoint is. That is the temperature where condensate will form for the pressure and humidity. This is also a highly variable number. You may have it operating good one day and then nothing for weeks.

And yes, where there is moisture there will be insects and animals trying to chew and dig their way in.
 

Bodfish Mike

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Cool device and I hope it helps the people that need it.
It won't work for me as I'm hitting bedrock at 2 feet (lucky me) I have a three foot limit unless the gold is showing very good --- to much work.
Mike
 

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Jeff95531

Jeff95531

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There IS a filter, supposed to be cleaner than rain water and condensation happens...with or without wind. My quess is it works best in morehumid windy areas where air temp is much above the ground temp 6 feet below. There IS moisture in all air. Tho I don't know enough about it to know even if it needs humidity but I assume it does. I ain't Berkley. :icon_thumright:

I kinda thought this would be controversial, tho it's not what I intended. What I intended was...check this out and if it happens, you heard it here first. :icon_thumright:
 

kcm

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There IS a filter, supposed to be cleaner than rain water and condensation happens...with or without wind. My quess is it works best in morehumid windy areas where air temp is much above the ground temp 6 feet below. There IS moisture in all air. Tho I don't know enough about it to know even if it needs humidity but I assume it does. I ain't Berkley. :icon_thumright:

I kinda thought this would be controversial, tho it's not what I intended. What I intended was...check this out and if it happens, you heard it here first. :icon_thumright:

'Tis ok Jeff. You know we just like slappin' you around now and then! :laughing7:

I could see this having great potential near coastlines, where there is ample moisture in the air but no fresh ground water. But if the dewpoint gets below about 15%, it's gonna have a heck of a time trying to extract enough moisture to do any good. And THAT is the key here - is it enough of an advantage to do any good?!?!?

In more arid regions, this would probably only work at night when the temps are cooler. Why? Well, let's say you have a fixed amount of air that has a fixed amount of moisture, just for example. Let's say the daytime temps are 100°, and this certain volume of air can hold 100 molecules of moisture, which works out to be 50% humidity (again, just an example). If you lower the temp of this fixed amount of air down to 50°, you still have 100 molecules of moisture in that air. However, in the warmer air, this may translate to 100% relative humidity. This is because warm air can hold more moisture. Therefore, the cooler the temps get at night, the easier it will be to extract moisture from the air. Now here's the kicker: wind "normally" calms down at nighttime. So with this being wind-powered, does it charge a battery? Does it only work when the wind is blowing? Will this device provide enough water to justify the cost??

That's the BIG question there, as most of those desert families in Africa or wherever may only live off of about 25¢ a day! ...So who will be paying for these machines??

There was a guy a while back who came up with a great invention. This same guy invented the Segway machine. His water purifier device was called the Slingshot, and he engineered it to burn ANYTHING that could burn, as its fuel. This would include dried cow dung. Probably even dried human feces. If it would burn, it would work - or so the literature claimed. The device was about the size of a suitcase. It was powered by a Stirling-type engine, and turned heat from burning fuel into power to purify even the most putrid water! I forget now how much water it could provide per day, but it was enough that several families could survive using one device. Last I heard, he was still trying to get the cost down lower, as so few families or even tribes could afford the $300 cost. Haven't heard much on this thing in a long time, so guess it was another great design that failed to be low enough in cost. But the nice thing about this was, it would turn urine into 100% purified drinking water! Mud? No problem. Don't know if they ever tested it that far, but there was some sort of talk back then about supposedly being able to extract the water contained in most hazardous chemicals. Have a little extra paint laying around? Is it drying up and not being used? Instead of wasting the water, just run the material through the device. It extracts the water, then you can use the waste (once dried) as fuel for the next water source.

Again, don't know how well the actual device ever worked, but the mechanics of the water purification were SPLENDID, to say the least!
 

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Jeff95531

Jeff95531

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I know. Ain't it great? Pretty sure humidity, wind, etc would help the outcome but IDK...on Dual Survival episodes I've seen (:tongue3:), water captures work dam near anywhere/anytime. Just saying it could work...hope it does...better in some places than others, but cool if it happens, and nothing more. :icon_thumright:

Thanks mods, for the "out of the box topic". :icon_thumright:
 

goldenIrishman

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LOL Well it's good to see that Star Wars moisture farmers from Tatooine may be getting some competition soon!

While sound in principal, results are going to vary in different locations. Here in the desert with the low humidity I'm sure it would take longer but it should still work. During the summer here the heat would wreck havoc with it I think. Wind is no problem but with humidity levels of 15% and lower..... Oh during the summer the ground heats up to the point that we still have two water temps at the kitchen tap. Hot..... and luke warm.
 

johnedoe

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This is a great idea and much needed in areas where safe drinking water is in rare supply.
There is one problem however.

This machine produces distilled water, and distilled water is a solvent. This solvent strips your body of many essential minerals to maintain good health.
The results of the loss of these minerals can increase the risk of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, arterial disease, and hypertension, plus a list of other problems.

It has been also shown that drinking distilled water that is stripped of all minerals can cause electrolyte imbalances in the body and as a result your body will leach these electrolytes from your tissues in order to add them to the water your drinking.
These electrolyte are necessary for your body to function properly to help eliminate waste products by proper kidney and liver functions.

These problems are not insurmountable and can be corrected but they need to be aware of the risk and need to mineralize the distilled water.

Just some thoughts.
 

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goldenmojo

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I am not sure how dehydrated the child was in the animation but it looks like it could have used a good meal... Great work Jeff on finding the gizmo. A friend of mine travels to Ghana every couple of years to build rain capture systems for villages. The mortality rate there for those under 5 years old drinking contaminated water is horrendous.
 

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