Feb 6, 2009

India - Potable water from air

K.Srinivasa Reddy

HYDERABAD: They are now making water from thin air, literally.
Jalimudi village in East Godavari district will get 1,000 litres of potable water every day, produced from air. The water station, the first of its kind set up in any village in India, has begun trial runs.
“The water… has been sent for quality tests and it’s been certified fit for consumption,” Meher Bhandara, director of WaterMaker (India) which manufactures the units, told The Hindu over the phone from Mumbai.
Projected as a boon to people in rural areas, especially in the coastal regions, the system runs on electricity and uses the refrigeration technique to condense water from air. Blower driven air is made to pass through filters and a refrigerant is circulated leading to condensation of water, which is collected in a holding tank.
The efficacy will depend on the relative humidity and temperature. “Each machine will produce water if the humidity is between 70 and 75 per cent and the temperature between 25 C to 32 C,” Ms. Bhandara said. If these are high, there will be more water.
The machine, which costs about Rs. 3 lakh, was installed in Jalimudi by the company free of cost.

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