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Element Four Watermill Needs No Droid
The Element Four Watermill is designed to draw water out of the air in the most energy-efficient manner possible. It does this by testing the air for moisture content.
(The inner workings of the Watermill)
The Watermill... checks its environment every three minutes to determine the dew point and keeps itself operating at just a few degrees below that dew point. This way, it maximizes efficiency of the energy it uses to operate by maximizing the amount of water it can pull from the air 24 hours a day 7 days a week.It can pull an average of 13 quarts of water each day, which is plenty of potable water for an average family of four.
In the next six months, Element Four promises to bring out a version powered by solar energy; moisture farmers out on Tatooine will appreciate that feature.
(Star Wars moisture vaporator)
For human purposes, however, the water of Tatooine was only marginally accessible. The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance. It had to be coaxed down out of the hard blue sky -- coaxed, forced, yanked down to the parched surface...
(Read more about the Star Wars moisture vaporator)
Don't miss these wet 'n wild stories:
- Aqua Sciences Water From Atmospheric Moisture
Aqua Sciences is now under contract to the Pentagon to provide fresh water to US troops in Iraq. - Whisson Windmills To Water Australia Like Vaporators?
Whisson's design consists of a number of blades arranged vertically, accepting wind from any direction. - WatAir Dew-Harvesting 'Web' Kit
Science fiction fans readily recognize the value of moisture, not just water. In Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, savvy natives of the driest planet in the universe used dew collectors to keep plants watered.
Via Treehugger; thanks to Andy for the tip on this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/29/2008)
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