Self-Filling Water Bottle Concept Harvests H20 From Air
by Beth Buczynski 
Did you know that there are more than three quadrillion gallons of water just floating around in the air? Climate change has made it abundantly clear that water will become an even more precious resource in the coming decades. Although the freshwater rivers and lakes from which we source drinking water may dry up, scientists hope that advanced technology will allow them to harvest this atmospheric water as a new supply.
We’ve already reported on a wind turbine concept that plucks water from desert air, but that’s hardly a practical investment for your average individual. Now, new developments from a company called NBD Nano suggests this technology may be in our hands sooner than previously thought. The company has pioneered a water bottle that can refill itself with drinkable water harvested from the air.
Image via Muffet/Flickr
Like many of the most innovative clean tech companies, NBD Nano’s amazing water bottle concept was inspired by Mother Nature. The company’s founders noticed that the Namib Desert Beetle is able to thrive in the extremely dry environments because it’s capable of absorbing water from the air.
“Every morning this beetle climbs to the top of a sand dune, sticks its back to the wind, and drinks 12 percent of its weight in water,” said NBD cofounder Deckard Sorensen in an interview with PRI. “We use nanotechnology to mimic this beetle’s back so that we too can pull water from the air.” In the novel design, the water bottle’s surface is coated with hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings, and then a fan is used to pass air over the surface. The water condenses on the surface and, eventually, the water bottle refills itself. The design could operate using a rechargeable battery or solar cell to speed-up accumulation and filter the water.
Obviously, this technology could have a huge impact, especially in developing nations where other types of water filtration are hampered by a lack of infrastructure. NBD hopes to bring this off-grid water bottle to market by 2014.
Wind Turbine Plucks Clean Water From Desert Air
As climate change continues to become more apparent, scientists say we are in for lots more hot, very dry weather in some regions of the world. Since it’s highly likely that many fresh water supplies will continue to disappear, it’s essential that new water producing technologies are developed—and quickly.
Plants and animals living in the desert have evolved to utilize even tiny bits of moisture in their quest for survival. The ability to capitalize on natural condensation inspired a French technology startup to develop a wind turbine with similar traits. Eole Water is working on a wind turbine that can produce hundreds of liters of water every day, using nothing but dry desert air.
image via Eole
The Eole WMS 1000 wind turbine features a 13-meter diameter rotor with a 12-metric-ton nacelle housing a direct-drive permanent-magnet generator protected by sand-shutters. It starts by drawing wind through air regulators. The moisture in the air is then transformed into steam by heat from the turbine’s generator. The steam is then compressed, the moisture condenses, and the resulting water droplets flow down pipes within the turbine and into stainless steel tanks for purification. According to one report, Eole CEO Marc Parent, an engineer, got the idea for this amazing turbine back in the 1990s, when he began reducing his bottled water costs by siphoning the condensation from his air conditioner.
Early tests show that the device is capable of creating 500-800 liters of clean water every day through the process of condensation. And that’s in the arid climate of the United Arab Emirates where the prototype is being tested. Eole hopes that installing the turbine offshore or near the coast where there are higher humidity and wind conditions could produce even more
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