The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air • Hacker News Board

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#21

Post by maxmcd » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 3:56 PM UTC

ortusdux wrote: post #15

Here is the website for one of the winners: http://www.skysource.org/ From what I can glean online, the 150 gal/day unit costs $18k usd + $150-$300 in electricity a month if run 24/7 at $0.10Kwh. Ignoring electrical costs, it would take 1581 days to reach $0.02/liter. In that time you would use up $7.5-15k in electricity. The best estimate I could find is that the average US household uses 240 gal a day. A friend of…

I think the competition guidelines are around manufacturing cost, not retail cost:

> The cost per liter of water extraction will also be calculated based on a pro forma Bill of Materials and estimated NRE and tooling costs. A more detailed description of this calculation is provided in the Rules and Regulations. The Affordability Index must be less than $0.02 (two cents). No prize will be awarded to a Team that does not meet that criterion.

https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/5cb25086-82d2-4c89-9...

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#22

Post by Yver » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 3:59 PM UTC

azernik wrote: post #8

post_break wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the article. Do you know how many of these things promise gallons and deliver drops? Pardon me for being pessimistic about it.

They have commercial models for sale that produce half the competition amounts, and have pretty detailed specs online: http://www.skysource.org/products/

Those specs mention producing half the competition's amount in optimal conditions, which I assume means 99% humidity. They don't actually say at what humidity level and temperature their product can deliver that much. They don't give any specific numbers at any specific temperature, only the machine's operating conditions and the upper limit on what it can produce.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#23

Post by metaphor » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 3:59 PM UTC

azernik wrote: post #11

nyrulez wrote: post #4

I'm a bit irked that a technology of this significance has no videos or demos or actual use cases, just a PR blurb. Is it confidentiality, or is it too early stage? Otherwise X Prize becomes another congratulatory event. This feeling seems to run through the entire site as I click around.

The company itself has a website at http://www.skysource.org/

...which tells us nothing of their XPrize submission.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#24

Post by ed_balls » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:01 PM UTC

travisoneill1 wrote: post #17

2 cents a liter is not close to feasible for any sort of agricultural or industrial use and is an order of magnitude more expensive than residential tap water. Seems like cool tech, but I can't see how this is a solution to any type of water shortage.

Another problem is that the water doesn't taste great.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#25

Post by corodra » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:03 PM UTC

It’s an overpriced dehumidifier. Pulling humidity out of the air. It’s not magic. It’s not new. There is water vapor in the air, every middle schooler knows this.

They are in Hawaii. An outdoor dehumidifier will work great in a water abundant area. How well do you think a dehumidifier will work in a low humidity area? The places that need water the most. It’s not making water, it’s pulling out the humidity.

This is such a scam.

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. All these “smart” folks gave up 1.5mil and there are tech folks here nodding their heads because it’s xprize. Y’all turned off your thinking just because it’s xprize.

Say you want to help 3rd world poor and it gives you magic armor from logic apparently.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#26

Post by VBprogrammer » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:03 PM UTC

I might be way off base here but is that Jim Mason - Founder of All Power Labs? In that case it hints that gasification could be part of the solution.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#27

Post by VBprogrammer » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:04 PM UTC

VBprogrammer wrote: post #26

I might be way off base here but is that Jim Mason - Founder of All Power Labs? In that case it hints that gasification could be part of the solution.

Photo for reference: https://goo.gl/images/33dpUM

> In rural conditions Bio- Gasification has proved to be very productive and efficient in creating a micro-grid.

That from the FAQ here http://www.skysource.org/faq/.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#28

Post by black6 » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:08 PM UTC

ortusdux wrote: post #15

Here is the website for one of the winners: http://www.skysource.org/ From what I can glean online, the 150 gal/day unit costs $18k usd + $150-$300 in electricity a month if run 24/7 at $0.10Kwh. Ignoring electrical costs, it would take 1581 days to reach $0.02/liter. In that time you would use up $7.5-15k in electricity. The best estimate I could find is that the average US household uses 240 gal a day. A friend of…

All the pictures show the units operating in lush, green environments, which would indicate high(er) humidity where moisture extraction from the air is trivial. I'd like to see some action shots from the middle of the Atacama or Taklamakan.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#29

Post by JackFr » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:13 PM UTC

corodra wrote: post #20

CompelTechnic wrote: post #2

Does anyone have any details about their actual technical implementation? I'm sure it is interesting. I imagine it doesn't look too similar to a Tatooine moisture farm.

Just google “water from thin air”. This has been done quite often the past 15 years. It’s an overpriced dehumidifier that is working outdoors. 1. They’re in Hawaii. It’s a little humid there. So... yea. Dehumidifiers will collect quite a bit of water in a water abundant area. 2. The places that need clean water typically have low humidity as well. To pull water from air, there needs to be water in it. Think of this a…

> They’re in Hawaii.

So what you're saying is that they're efficient on an island miles from the the rainiest spot on the planet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Waialeale#Climate_and_Ra...

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#30

Post by explorigin » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:13 PM UTC

azernik wrote: post #10

CompelTechnic wrote: post #2

Does anyone have any details about their actual technical implementation? I'm sure it is interesting. I imagine it doesn't look too similar to a Tatooine moisture farm.

It looks like a construction-site power generator - big ol' metal cube. http://www.skysource.org/products/ Technical implementation is claimed to be 'adiabatic distillation' - not sure exactly what that means.

It means that it uses refrigeration to make it rain (maintain a dewpoint temperature) in a small chamber instead of just grabbing the condensation dripping off the refrigeration coils.