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MIT researchers have unveiled a portable, window‑sized device dubbed the atmospheric water harvesting window (AWHW) that can extract clean drinking water directly from air, even in death valley (singularityhub.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 38 points 1 year ago (5 children)

There are plenty ways to purify water once it's been obtained

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

    Absolutely. And that is the problem you actually need to solve in the places lacking potable water. They generally have some water, it just isn't potable. Filters need regular replacing, additives like chlorine need constant resupply, and reverse osmosis is extremely energy intensive. It's fundamentally a logistics problem.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    If you're concerned with bacterial growth in the condensate of a dehumidifier, all you need to do is boil it

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    There's such a thing as botulism ; so - once the toxin causing it has formed, it doesn't matter that you kill the bacteria that produced it with boiling the water. The toxin itself survives much harsher conditions.

    I think it's not the only danger which you haven't considered here.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Y'all, we're talking about condensate from a device specifically designed to capture water for drinking. We're not talking about drinking the water dripping from your AC. Ensuring this water is drinkable is remarkably simple.

    Not only that, but Clostridium botulinum only grows in anaerobic environments, so it isn't even a remote concern in this case. That's why you don't hear about it much outside of canned food or instances where it's purposefully cultivated for medical applications.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Well, if this idea is so glorious, why is none of the large array of water harvesting devices that pop up multiple times a year ever deployed at scale?

    Easy answer: because they are all marketing bullshit that doesn't solve the actual problem and instead only exists to part investors from their cash.

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