Water from Air

My brother sent me the link below to a company that produces and sells water from air extraction products. Has anyone come across or used these products before? They claim that they have a back order due to high demand from Cape Town.

https://www.waterfromair.co.za/water-from-air-aw3/

Does it work? What does the water taste like and what is the quality of the water?

I've tried the water and it tastes just fine, way better than tap water, watch this video:

The machine itself is just crap expensive.

[video=youtube;7-KxonnCXFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-KxonnCXFY[/video]

You press a button. Wait a few secs & water (slowly) comes out.

The water tastes like utter crap.

Water cooler water any day of the week for me.

Clever idea in theory. Dunno price of machine but I believe it's bloody expensive. Also no idea why it needs to be connected to WiFi!

Not a new idea at all. There are various companies out there that do this and you can shop around depending on what you want to achieve. I imagine it won't taste that great unless you are doing something at the filter stage.

It's a lot of money for what is basically a condenser and a compressor with a filter slapped on top. Also, if the air is dry these things won't work. You'll have to stick it on a helium balloon and have it work high up with a very long tube feeding your glass below.

They were on tv a couple month back. Maybe Carte Blanche. Yeah CPT knows about they they more directed to the elites though, mere mortals cant really afford them yet. Great idea though.

Thanks werny for this video. It was very informative. I agree that the machine is very expensive.

Have you ever tasted Oasis water? Would you say the taste was like that or more like H2O water if you've ever tasted the two.

Their site says R23.5k for the hot and cold model. It is rather expensive I agree, but would be a good investment if you didn't want to worry about this water shortage nonsense. The most important thing for me though is the taste and quality of the water. When you say it tastes like crap FiestaST, please define what you mean. Is it like municipal tap water crappy or like some of those sub-par water selling places like H2O?

SaoirseB said:

Their site says R23.5k for the hot and cold model. It is rather expensive I agree, but would be a good investment if you didn't want to worry about this water shortage nonsense. The most important thing for me though is the taste and quality of the water. When you say it tastes like crap FiestaST, please define what you mean. Is it like municipal tap water crappy or like some of those sub-par water selling places like H2O?

Click to expand...

It's hard to quantify & some people may have a different opinion but every single person, say 10 folks, that I have chatted to mention the taste is (generally) undesirable.

I should make mention that at times the taste is sort of "normal" like water cooler water & at times it has this "sticky" taste that lingers. As someone mentioned I guess it's to do with the dryness of the air perhaps. Try for yourself & see what you think.

Either way it's not as bad as crappy sub-standard tap water though.

Perhaps you get used to the unpleasant taste in time.

SaoirseB said:

Thanks werny for this video. It was very informative. I agree that the machine is very expensive.

Have you ever tasted Oasis water? Would you say the taste was like that or more like H2O water if you've ever tasted the two.

Click to expand...

Honestly wasn't that bad, but it might be that the machine I used had a filter of some sort. It wasn't Oasis quality but not far off, and it was ice cold water as well which made it taste even better.

If I had the money I'd buy one for sure, for now I'll stick with my water cooler/dispenser.

FiestaST said:

You press a button. Wait a few secs & water (slowly) comes out.

The water tastes like utter crap.

Water cooler water any day of the week for me.

Clever idea in theory. Dunno price of machine but I believe it's bloody expensive. Also no idea why it needs to be connected to WiFi!

Click to expand...

lol haven’t you done science at school? WiFi travels in the air and absorbs moisture. That needs to be extracted too and thus the need to connect to WiFi.

SaoirseB said:

Their site says R23.5k for the hot and cold model. It is rather expensive I agree, but would be a good investment if you didn't want to worry about this water shortage nonsense. The most important thing for me though is the taste and quality of the water. When you say it tastes like crap FiestaST, please define what you mean. Is it like municipal tap water crappy or like some of those sub-par water selling places like H2O?

Click to expand...

Maybe if the get rid of all the extra crap they put on the machine it can cut the price to more than halve?

So it's basically a very expensive dehumidifier.
Wow...mind blown

raind33r said:

So it's basically a very expensive dehumidifier.
Wow...mind blown

Click to expand...

Dehumidifiers don't make water available to drink, do they?

Ho3n3r said:

Dehumidifiers don't make water available to drink, do they?

Click to expand...

Sigh...they could.

wiki ....By their operation, dehumidifiers extract water from the conditioned air. This collected water (usually called condensate) is not normally used for drinking, and is often discarded

viper13 said:

Not a new idea at all. There are various companies out there that do this and you can shop around depending on what you want to achieve. I imagine it won't taste that great unless you are doing something at the filter stage.

It's a lot of money for what is basically a condenser and a compressor with a filter slapped on top. Also, if the air is dry these things won't work. You'll have to stick it on a helium balloon and have it work high up with a very long tube feeding your glass below.

Click to expand...

Yup, basically I dehumidifier with a filter :crylaugh:
Wonder how much this all so wonderfully "free" water-from-air costs in electricity.
As you say, inland folks are going to spend more electricity to get the same amount of water as their coastal counterpart.

I am surprised that nobody, at least publicly, has gone out and developed a system that harvests water from corporate/etc air conditioners. Granted the water that comes out from those won't be drinkable but it can be purified by the usual means.

Its a very inefficient way of getting water. You use a LOT of electricity to get 5l per day.
So yes, it would help you out if there was no water but will be very expensive to use as water saving device.(Both cost and running cost)

Its basically an aircon, have you ever noticed how there is a pipe out of every air conditioner with a constant drip - stick your cup under that pipe to get a much cheaper version.

Obviously they just re-engineered the same concept so that it gets more water than makes cool air.

Nerfherder said:

Its a very inefficient way of getting water. You use a LOT of electricity to get 5l per day.
So yes, it would help you out if there was no water but will be very expensive to use as water saving device.(Both cost and running cost)

Its basically an aircon, have you ever noticed how there is a pipe out of every air conditioner with a constant drip - stick your cup under that pipe to get a much cheaper version.

Obviously they just re-engineered the same concept so that it gets more water than makes cool air.

Click to expand...

I would like to see if someone actually tried like a DIY version with some aircon or refrigeration parts. That would be interesting.

LCBXX said:

I am surprised that nobody, at least publicly, has gone out and developed a system that harvests water from corporate/etc air conditioners. Granted the water that comes out from those won't be drinkable but it can be purified by the usual means.

Click to expand...

Was thinking the same thing.

I had a 12000BTU air conditioner installed at home on Saturday and put a bucket under the drip pipe. By Sunday morning I had collected about 7l of condensate and used it for plants in the garden.

I'm sure the industrial units servicing offices would be extracting huge amounts on a daily basis.

Process description

Air is drawn into the machine by the action of a Venturi fan. The air is filtered initially (step 1) by the electrostatic glass wool fibre air filter. The moisture in the air is cooled as it makes contact with the cooling coils (condenser). The condenser is a set of coils containing the refrigerant (R22). The refrigerant gains heat from the moisture and is re-compressed via a compressor into a gas. This is a closed circuit and ineffective water production or water droplet formation on the coils could be the result of a refrigerant leak or the incorrect amount or the incorrect refrigerant.

Under gravity the droplets of water drip onto a drip tray, a perforated stainless steel plate allowing water to enter the second filtration step. The carbon granules (2000-6000 um) are housed above the collection tank or bottom tank and effectively prevent any particles greater than the rated microns passing through. Water then enters the bottom tank where it is treated with UV light. From here and under level control, the water is pumped by a booster pump through a series of filters.

First in-line is a granular activated carbon filter (GAC) (840-2000 um). This filter removes organics and improves objectionable taste and odour of the water. The second in-line filter, the mineral enriched Ceramic filter is composed of diatomaceous earth containing calcium, magnesium and other trace elements to enrich the water. Two more in-line GAC filters ensure further improvement of taste and odour. The last filter is a carbon block in-line filter (2 um), for improvement of colour, taste and odour.

Exiting the carbon block are 2 pipes one leading to the top tank and the other to a recycle circuit back to the bottom tank. Flow to the top tank is controlled by the level sensor and basically operates on demand from the top tank. If the top tank is full and the bottom tank has not been drawn from for a set period of time, then the system starts up to recycle water in the bottom tank through the filter matrix.

The top tank is also fitted with a UV light. A recycle circuit incorporating the top tank, and associated pipes ensures water is pumped around during periods when water is not being dispensed from the faucet. Exiting the recycle around the top tank is the pipe to the dispensing faucet. The direction of water through recycle or dispensing line is controlled by the dispensing valve (outlet). The recycle line is fitted with a UV light called the in-faucet UV and ensures water being dispensed or recycled is again treated with UV. The top tank is fitted with a drain pipe to be able to drain the contents of the top tanks for any maintenance required.

Exterior to the machine is the Spout which contains a wire mesh stainless steel filter. The plastics spout is removable to allow for changing from time to time.