Time to Drink Water From Air Con Units

Water from air! AC water conversion and treatment unit illustration. Photo: Watergen Ltd

A while ago I wrote about the possibility of creating drinking or agricultural usage water from the cooling coil condensation from air conditioners.   This idea has been around for years, and has in the past been met with more than its share of skepticism, even though inexpensive methods exist to purify polluted water from bacteria other biological impurities that may be present in such water.

A recent program on the CNN Earth Matters environmental show dealt with special water cleansing units that were originally developed for US and other troops stationed in hot desert areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan that collects and purifies the run-off water from military vehicle AC units and turns this water into pure, tasty  drinking water in the field.  The water is sent through a series of filters to clean and remove harmful bacteria and other organic substances. And the technology is here. 

GEN 40 water generator: can create 20-60 liters of water per day

Afterwards, minerals are added to the water to give it a pleasant taste. The idea of inventing such devices for military vehicles was done for the purpose of making troops in the field more independent as far as water supplies go.

In addition to such purification devices being made for trucks and other vehicles, variations have also been made for stationary or static ground units such as at military bases and other installations. These portable water producing units appear to be so practical that they can be used in all types of locations where drinking water may be scarce or not available, such as areas afflicted by floods that pollute normal drinking water supplies, such as the flooding that occurred in Bangkok and other locations in Thailand last year.

Even in low humidity desert regions, the devices can provide fresh drinking water as they take  the water from condensation in the air conditioning units. This water would otherwise simply run off to the ground as it still does in millions of AC units all over the world.

The water producing and treatment units are now being marketed in Israel, and variations of them, are  being used for military vehicles like Merkava tanks and IDF versions of Humvee military patrol vehicles and armored personnel carriers.

Although originally designed for use in military type vehicles and at personnel field unit locations, it doesn’t take much imagination to find uses for these water producing devices in all kinds of non-military vehicles and locations.

photos: Water-gen Ltd

Read more on creating water from air:
Water From Air May be Viable Solution After All

Tap Into Auxiliary Water Supplies With Your AC
Sodus Makes Light -And Water-of Plastic Bottles