Breakthrough Discovery Makes Water Desalination Obsolete!

this video is sponsored by ag-1 by athletic greens  water is a vital resource yet many countries   worldwide face severe water shortages every year  and not just developing countries just think of   the flint michigan crisis imagine pulling  clean drinkable water right out of thin air   sounds like something from dune or star wars  right but atmospheric water generation is very   real and thanks to some major scientific leaps awg  technology may soon find its way into your home   today we're going to explore three promising awg  breakthroughs could these technologies solve at   home water independence and global water shortages  let's dive in so to begin with how can the blue   planet have water shortages yes water covers 70 of  our planet but we're only able to use about three   percent the rest ends up in our oceans we've done  a video on desalination so you should definitely   check that out but the stark truth is that for  now the amount of usable water is shrinking   reasons include population growth more and more  people using up our water supplies this gets   compounded when you factor in agriculture which  uses up 70 to 80 percent of our water by itself   in the u.s alone leaky pipes waste roughly 6  billion gallons of water per day our house alone   had a 400 gallon per day leak which we didn't even  know about until i got a water meter and tracked   it down we'll have a link to that video in the  description climate change related droughts also   factor in as clouds move away from the equator  and towards the poles leaving already vulnerable   regions high and dry at the time of this video  1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to   clean water and nearly 2.7 billion people live in  water scarce areas some estimates predict that by   2050 roughly 87 countries will be in a state  of water scarcity right now about 30 percent   of the earth's fresh water lies deep underground  in aquifers while many developed countries have   the technology and infrastructure to dig wells not  every country does even in developed places like   california most of our freshwater comes from out  of state geopolitics water management and budget   can all play major factors in accessing clean  water as we mentioned extracting water from the   ocean is possible through desalination which is  likely to play a vital role in the coming years   but the process can be expensive and requires  loads of energy not to mention you have to have   an ocean nearby but the ocean isn't the only place  to find usable water in fact there is an enormous   pool of water literally surrounding you right now  the earth's atmosphere it's estimated that our   atmosphere carries about 12 900 cubic kilometers  of water at any given time that's about three   times the amount of water humans consume annually  so like the kid looking into the candy store the   question isn't what we want but how we get it  let's step back and talk about how air from water   systems work and the different physical properties  at play first it's not the heat it's the humidity   absolute humidity is the amount of moisture in  the air but it's not as useful as you might think   that's because the air's ability to hold water  is largely due to temperature oh so maybe it is   the heat this graph shows how many kilograms of  water one kilogram of air can hold at different   temperatures interestingly at zero degrees celsius  there is nearly no water in the air given the air   that bitter cold sensation that hurts your lungs  when you breathe in as temperatures rise air can   hold more water so instead of absolute humidity  it's more helpful to think about relative humidity   how much water is in the air versus how much it  could possibly hold at a given temperature next   is the dew point which is the temperature at which  air is saturated with water meaning 100 relative   humidity here water condenses out of the air  since the air can't hold anymore picture a kitchen   sponge when dry it can soak up water but once it's  full it can't hold anymore the air actually works   in pretty much the same way so by tweaking this  dew point and exploiting this phenomenon we can   extract water out of air this then is at the heart  of all the various breakthroughs we'll talk about   today and speaking of water let me take a quick  moment to tell you about our sponsor this week   ag-1 by athletic greens now this isn't the first  time i've talked about ag-1 that's because i've   been a very happy customer for over a year i  only have a few years before i turned 40 and   after years of working hard growing this channel  at the cost of my health i've decided to make a   change i'm eating better i've lost 10 pounds and  i drink ag-1 every day have you ever wondered   between your meals you've gotten all the vitamins  and minerals your body needs each day well ag-1   has 75 different ingredients including vitamins  minerals superfoods probiotics and adaptogens   things like vitamin c zinc and healing mushrooms  to support your immunity probiotics for gut health   a natural form of b12 biotin bioavailable folate  and magnesium for energy and much more ag-1 is   even vegan paleo and keto friendly between this  channel and my boys my life is complicated enough   but ag-1 really helps me simplify  nutrition go to athleticgreens.com   davinci to get started on your first purchase  and receive a free one-year supply of vitamin d   and five travel packs huge thanks to athletic  greens and you for supporting the show first   up is a system by tsunami products which uses  a forced condenser system these were similar to   your refrigerator or air conditioner the machine  pulls out moist ambient air through a series of   condensing coils where the water vapor is cooled  down sufficiently to reach the dew point then the   air and moisture go through special patented  extraction chambers which condense the water   even further finally the water passes through  a series of filters then collects in a storage   tank ready for tappan according to the company the  smaller unit the tsunami 500 can produce between   0.5 and 8 gallons per hour or up to 200 gallons  per day depending on the air temperature relative   humidity and dew dewpoint where it is installed  the larger tsunami 750 produces up to 330 gallons   per day what would this look like for the average  consumer according to the epa the average american   uses roughly 82 gallons of water per day with the  average household using about 300 gallons so even   with the smaller unit you'd be able to produce  over 60 percent of your daily water needs or about   three times your daily needs if you're single  and the tsunami 750 their bigger system could   potentially provide all the water you would  need for your entire family it's pretty amazing   but there's more to this story these units aren't  cheap while the company's website doesn't list an   official price reports suggest that the tsunami  500 could cost a whopping 30 thousand dollars and   at 750 about 50 000 but it's not just the  upfront cost either these systems require   external power the 500 model uses about 7.5  kilowatts per hour while the 750 uses around 11.   for context a window air conditioner uses around  1 kilowatt per hour and a large whole house ac   about 4.5 kilowatts level 2 charging for my tesla  model 3 uses between 7 and 9 kilowatts per hour   these then are serious energy hogs even if you  have solar you need an absolutely massive system   to power them plus if you only run them when  producing solar you can easily cut that water   generation in half since at night you're not  gonna be running it if not more i'm actually   looking into an air water generation system  for my net zero home build so we'll have a   lot more hands-on videos covering this stuff  in the future but i would love to do something   like this one more thing to note though is that  these systems have lifespans of 20 years or more   which may help justify the high upfront cost  we'll do a cost comparison breakdown looking at   each technology later in the video up next let's  look at the technology that's basically the exact   opposite of these active condenser models we all  know nets can be great for catching fish out of   the water but what about using them to catch the  water itself fog nets have been around for quite a   while using small fibers to capture and condense  water from the air but these systems typically   only work in foggy or high humidity regions but  a recent breakthrough by researcher josh wong and   his team at the university of akron in ohio have  taken this very simple technology to a whole new   level the team used electrospun polymer nanofibers  with diameters of one billionth of a meter about   three and a half atoms in width these nano fibers  greatly increase the relative surface area of   the nets allowing more water to condense on the  surface according to the creators a typical fog   net can capture roughly 30 liters of water per day  per square meter these nanofiber nets can yield up   to 180 liters about six times the output best  of all they require no electricity however wong   is developing a system that could use an electric  cooling device to help cool the fibers increasing   the amount of water they can collect even  further because this technology is still in the   experimental stages getting into things like cost  per unit can be tricky but the researchers goal is   to create a system that is lightweight durable and  cost effective the increased condensing abilities   mean that these nets can work in areas that aren't  particularly humid in fact according to wong these   materials will work in areas where humidity  levels are as low as 4 percent that is bone dry   the final breakthrough utilizes an emerging  technology known as the super sponge super   sponges are a wide-ranging group of hydrogel and  gel polymer hybrid materials essentially chemical   compounds with interlocked repeating elements you  actually can see them at work in bandages diapers   or even contact lenses what makes them so special  though is that they are incredibly hydrophilic   meaning in cold temperatures they can condense and  absorb large amounts of water when they heat up   under solar radiation they become hydrophobic  meaning that they expel all that water they   absorbed so like the nano fiber nets these systems  don't need to consume any electricity to work they   just need solar input a team of researchers at the  university of texas in austin led by guiha yu have   harnessed these materials to create a unique water  harvesting and filtration system this version of   the gel can produce between 30 and 40 liters per  kilogram per day again this particular hydrogel   is still in the lab but other hydrogels can cost  between 2 600 and 3 400 per ton which comes out   to about three to four dollars per kilogram  so how do these technologies compare and when   where and how might each one best fit in terms  of power consumption it's pretty straightforward   tsunami product systems use between 7 and 11  kilowatt hours of power every day while the   nanofiber nets and hydrogel systems require no  active power at all in terms of longevity the   tsunami product systems are rated to last over  20 years a significant edge over the other two   again being in the experimental phases it's hard  to say for sure how long these technologies would   last in the real world but traditional fog nets  tend to last roughly 10 years while hydrogels   generally last around 7 years hydrogels also tend  to be biodegradable a factor that the other two   don't share finally let's look at cost the average  american household uses roughly 300 gallons of   water per day 9 000 gallons monthly or 108 000  gallons annually right now in california water   is priced in hundreds of cubic feet or hcf one  hcf equaling roughly 750 gallons of water i know   our units are stupid but please feel free to  leave that in the comment section pricing uses   a tiered system as shown at 300 gallons a day that  comes out to 12 hcf monthly with a base view of 27   dollars that means an average monthly water bill  here in san diego where i live is between 80 and   100 a month which is less than a penny a gallon  the tsunami 500 costs thirty thousand dollars   up front and it lasts 20 years and produces 200  gallons per day that means in its lifetime it can   produce up to 1.5 million gallons of water at that  rate it comes out to about 2 cents per gallon but   remember 200 gallons is still less than what the  average u.s household consumes in a day so even   with this machine you'd have to have a water  connection to make up the difference then you   have to factor in your electricity bill assuming  you don't have home solar even if we considerably   estimate 10 hours of use a day at 10 kilowatts  that's a hundred kilowatts per day or 3 000 per   month in san diego 33 cents per kilowatt hour  we're looking at a thousand dollars per month   just for this system sadly you'd never be able  to justify this system financially while pricing   for the nano fiber net isn't currently available  pricing for a standard fog net today costs around   37 dollars per square meter and can last about 10  years according to wong and his team one square   meter of this nanofiber could yield 47 gallons  of water per day which means you need a little   over six square meters of nanofiber to produce the  300 gallons you'd need each day based on standard   fog net pricing that would come out to about 236  dollars but i have a feeling their electro spun   nano fiber is gonna cost substantially more  than that over ten years this system could   theoretically produce over a million gallons of  water which comes out to two tenths of a penny   per gallon based on san diego water prices  you're looking at a payback period of three   to four months but again the real prices could  be dramatically higher and remember this system   requires no electricity now again this product  is not yet commercially available but you can see   why it would be so attractive finally the hydrogel  again we didn't have pricing for the specific gel   but based on their commercially available products  we can estimate about four dollars per kilogram   according to the researchers one kilogram can  produce about nine gallons of water per day   which means we'll need about 33 kilograms to meet  our daily quota which comes out to 132 dollars   again theoretically but assume the gel can last  seven years that's a lifetime production of over   766 thousand gallons at a price of one tenth of  a penny per gallon and a payback period of just   one or two months now of course these numbers  should be taken with a sizable grain of salt   as two of the three technologies aren't even  commercially available yet things like price   longevity durability are all highly speculative  at this point seeing just how much energy the   conventional condensing system uses you start  to realize why so much research is going into   nets and gels that are passive so yes 10 kilowatts  per hour is wildly expensive but if i was facing a   water shortage and i could power this system with  my solar panels it is hard to put a price on that   life-giving water production while these systems  may not make financial sense for the average   american home perhaps they could find uses in  rural or underdeveloped communities plus it's   not all sunshine and rainbows for the passive  systems either both the gel and the net systems   require wind to push air through the various  media plus output figures are wildly theoretical   with changes in temperature relative humidity and  dew point throughout the day much more real world   testing would be required to truly understand  their performance there is one other commercially   available product i've had my eye on and that's  the source hydro panel by zero mass water this   water powered panel mounts on your roof and  produces water from air entirely powered by the   solar power on board this four by eight foot panel  can produce four to eight liters of water per day   depending on the day's humidity and weather and  at six thousand dollars for two panels shipped   and installed you could produce eight to sixteen  liters or two to four gallons a day sure you need   a hundred panels and six hundred thousand dollars  to produce all 300 gallons you need for a day but   come on water out of air all day every day as you  can probably tell i'm pretty passionate about this   water is a major concern for us here in california  and in san diego so i'm actually looking into one   of these systems from my house to see if it would  be possible to make all the water i would need on   site every day so subscribe and stay tuned because  on our net zero build series on this channel we'll   cover this way more in the future so water sure  it's everywhere but it's quite tricky to use as   we need it but in our current climate it's one  of the greatest challenges of our time which is   why i'm so glad to know that so many smart people  around the world are working on this problem and   every new idea and breakthrough matters but let  us know what you think which of these technologies   has you the most excited are there any other water  shortage solutions you'd like us to cover in the   future sound off in the comments below alright so  that's a look at cool innovative ways of producing   water out of the air this is one of those things  i'm really pumped on i have a couple of diy ideas   that i'm playing with possibly picture this a  pool heat pump heater where the cold side blows in   to a water capture system so now i'm heating my  pool and producing water or something like that   anyways i've got a bunch of stuff i'm  cooking up so subscribe and we'll cover   all my findings in future videos all right  that's a look at water from air check out   some of our other videos we think you'll like  i'm rico davinci catch you guys next week

Channel: Two Bit da Vinci

Views: 101,285

Keywords: two bit da vinci, air water generator, awg, water air generator, atmospheric air water generator, diy air water generator, solar air water generator, water air, water generator free energy, water generator pump, clean drinking water from air, how to create clean drinking water from air, water generator, water crisis, water from air machine, Breakthrough Discovery Makes Water Desalination Obsolete, desalination, water desalination, desalination plant, desalination of seawater

Id: 9tJQhSC3wV4

Length: 16min 30sec (990 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 28 2022