Water Pulled Out of Thin Air, Literally
From scarcity to abundance, Zero Mass Water, a start-up, turns sunlight into drinkable water.
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Ever thought that you’d see water pulled out of thin air? No, not using a magic trick, but by applying science. That’s precisely what Zero Mass Water, a start-up in Arizona, does. Using the solar water disinfection method, it harvests perfect drinking water from sunlight and air. The founder, Cody Friesen, who is a scientist and associate professor at Arizona State University, spent almost seven years developing the Source Hydropanel — the technology which uses only solar stills to provide drinking water for two to three people every day, even in hot and arid locations.
Zero Mass Water aims to alleviate the water crisis in different parts of the world with its simple innovation of extracting water from the air using a sun-operated distilling plant — a combination of solar power, air, and electricity to create conditions conducive for water condensation.
“Water stress is a human condition. We want to guarantee access to safe drinking water for every person globally and fundamentally change the human relationship to water,” says Friesen.
How Does It Work?
The solar panel installed converts sunlight into energy. This heats the sponge-like material inside to create condensation. The water is then stored in a 30-liter reservoir. To purify the water and improve its taste, certain minerals and ozone are added to it. “The water then flows through a mineral block that adds calcium and magnesium and brings the PH up so it’s slightly alkaline,” says Friesen. The best part is that the water goes straight to the home’s tap or refrigerator for ease of use. And it’s off the grid because Zero Mass Water comes with its solar panel, which the company has termed ‘Source Hydropanel’.
An important component of this process is the sponge-like material containing pores of different sizes. A solar-powered fan takes the air from outside and directs it towards this material, which is super absorbent. This process collects water at “20,000 times the concentration of vapor in the air.” The Source Hydropanel manages to extract five liters of water out of thin air per day.
It also contains a micro-chip that relays predictive data like temperature, humidity, and water output of installed panels in nearby areas to aid in giving optimal results.
“Each panel has a programmable circuit board that runs an algorithm. And the algorithm is constantly adjusting those set points so that we maximize the amount of water we make. We record that data…so we can teach the panel how to adjust to climate change such that it is always optimizing the water it makes,” said Mike Robinson, a mechanical engineer at Zero Mass.
Since its inception in 2017, Zero Mass Water has grown from strength to strength. It’s been installed in residential buildings, schools, and private homes in the United States of America. They have also moved to introduce their technology in 37 countries, including Mexico, Jordan, at schools and orphanages for refugees in Lebanon and the Philippines. The company installed panels in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, in refugee camps in Syria as well as in a girls’ foundation in Kenya.
But this technology does not come cheap. According to a report in MIT, the hydro panel costs $2,500, while the installation of two panels can go up to $6,500. Friesen, along with his team at Zero Mass, is attempting to make it more cost-effective in the long run.
They want to make water accessible while considering sustainability for the whole world. Zero Mass Water’s Source Hydropanels run on absolutely zero electricity or any other additional infrastructure, which makes it an entirely green technology.
“Today it takes far less energy (effectively none, since it’s entirely solar-powered) to create drinking water with Source than any other mechanism,” he told Verge.
Even though the technology can only provide drinking water at the moment, we hope to find viable solutions for agricultural purposes as well. The global water crisis is one of the biggest challenges faced by humanity today, and innovations such as these offer us a chance for a hopeful future.
