No well? No water? Check out the new 'Atmospheric Water Generator'

[cnelk]

Cant get water? Haul water?

I recently came across this new 'Water Cube' water generator.
It can generate up 120 gallons a day

WaterCube: World’s first home atmosphere-to-water generator makes 120 gallons a day

World's first and only home air device – WaterCube yields 120 gallons per day of pure water from air launches at CES 2024.

interestingengineering.com

 

[NRA4LIFE]

At $20K plus tax, that would pay my water bill for 20+ years. It's spec'd at 80 deg, 60% humidity. They tout areas of water scarcity for its use. I wonder how it works when it's 100 deg. and 15% humidity (Africa)?

 

[Billy Goat]

I find that a little scary.

Pulling moisture from the air, in any quantity, makes big changes down jet stream.


Neat idea, hope it never takes off.

 

[sbaker0029]

This is a very interesting concept.

I agree with sir William goat, definitely going to make changes downstream.

Seems like a glorified dehumidifier.

The operating range definitely narrows down the regions it will work best in year-round.
Plus from the specs it requires 220v plug in on a 40A breaker and 6000w to operate. Going to take a heck of a solar generator system to power those specs.
To go offgrid with it you would definitely be in it for $30k easily.

I'm also having a hard time seeing where exactly this would work 100% of the time and at what efficiency.

I'm not a weather rocket surgeon but I feel like in the ranges of humidity and temperature that it's going to operate, there's going to have to be water around somewhere and more than likely it's going to rain. But what do I know.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Seems like a glorified dehumidifier.

That's what I thought.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

At $20K plus tax, that would pay my water bill for 20+ years. It's spec'd at 80 deg, 60% humidity. They tout areas of water scarcity for its use. I wonder how it works when it's 100 deg. and 15% humidity (Africa)?

Sure would be great for my camp on the coast but it ain't $20k great!

 

[CRJR45]

I remember when VCR's were $1200 , so I'm sure this will drop in price eventually ?

 

[TaperPin]

Wow - 40 amps running all day is a lot of juice - that’s going to be some expensive water.

Super cool though.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

At 40 amps, 220V, at our current rate, that would cost me $22000 a month running continuously.

 

[cnelk]

I find that a little scary.

Pulling moisture from the air, in any quantity, makes big changes down jet stream.

Kinda like pulling water from underground too!

 

[sbaker0029]

At 40 amps, 220V, at our current rate, that would cost me $22000 a month running continuously.

That is definitely some expensive a$$ water.
You could probably have pallets of Fiji water flown in at that rate .

Here's the spec sheet.

Seems like a very inefficient way of collecting water to me. But then again what do I know.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

OK, at a 22 amp draw it's only about $12K per month. That thing is enormous.

You'd need about a 300 SF of the most efficient solar array and constant sun to produce that much power continuously. Living in W. WA, I'll take a pass on that one.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Thanks for the spec sheet. Not that I could afford it anyway but that's definitely not an off-grid toy.

 

[sbaker0029]

It is pretty large, about the size of 3.5-4 ton ac/furnace unit.

I feel like this is one of those things that seems really great on paper but once put into real world conditions it's not going to work that great and disappoint.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Seems like a glorified dehumidifier.

That's exactly what it is. It draws in air at ambient humidity, passes the air over refrigerated coils, collects the water that condenses as the air cools, and spits out less humid air. Such devices might work to supply water in niche applications, but I don't see them getting widespread use due to their high energy consumption.

 

[Middleofnowhere]

My grandad put a bucket under a window mounted air conditioning unit, it collected 5-20 gallons of water a day from the condensation. The bonus was the house was kept cool.

 

[Tod osier]

they worked on Tatooine.

 

[sbaker0029]

Thanks for the spec sheet. Not that I could afford it anyway but that's definitely not an off-grid toy.

No problem.
Definitely not an offgrid toy.

You could put something together for under $3k at an offgrid cabin and serve multiple purposes as.

That's exactly what it is. It draws in air at ambient humidity, passes the air over refrigerated coils, collects the water that condenses as the air cools, and spits out less humid air. Such devices might work to supply water in niche applications, but I don't see them getting widespread use due to their high energy consumption.

Yeah for sure niche applications and limited consumer base.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

My grandad put a bucket under a window mounted air conditioning unit, it collected 5-20 gallons of water a day from the condensation. The bonus was the house was kept cool.

We collect from ours for dog water, she seems to like the rainwater better though. I'm not sure if the pH matters for dogs but that's a different thread. I bring my Katadyn water filter with me down there in case of an emergency.

 

[11boo]

That would be a waste of time and money in western Colo.

The power requirements are going to kill it anyway.