So, cruising the internet as I sometimes do, I came across an IndieGoGo (like Kickstarter) project for an "air to water" dispenser. Purportedly creates water by pulling humidity out of the air. Some quick googling and I've discovered that the generic term for such devices are "Atmospheric Water Generator" and that there are many that are already on the market to be purchased.

Water, here in So Cal, is the bottle neck in any of my disaster prep scenarios. I can only shelter in place for as long as my water runs out. No wells, streams, lakes, or rivers nearby--just the 50 gallon barrel in my garage and my 75(?) gallon water heater.

An atmospheric water generator could be interesting. With unlimited electricity coming out of a rooftop solar install, making water from air could be viable.

Dunno, just a thought. Gonna keep a watch on this space.

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Atmospheric Water Generator

I've always called them "dehumidifiers".

I think a lot would depend upon your relative humidity. Certainly would be more efficient in the Jungle or Gulf Coast of Texas.

I used to get almost five gallons a day out of my dehumidifier when I lived in NY. Run it through a filter and it should be good to go.

Water can also be collected from Air Conditioner condensate drain.

I guess a $100-200 dehumidifier plus a Steri-Pen and a backpacking water filter is more palatable than a $2k machine that would need to run all year round to justify its existence. I already have an under-sink Reverse Osmosis for drinking water.

There’s an installation of these in Southern Tunisia near the city of Tataouine:

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

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Atmospheric Water Generator

I've always called them "dehumidifiers".

I’ve got one in my basement storage; makes ~4 gallons every three to five days.

Further into the rabbit hole:

I've recently heated up a bunch of Silica Gel to expel moisture from the gel. The now dry silica gel is then used as a dehumidifier in my safes and dry boxes.

I thought to myself, "Self, could you buy like 100lbs of this silica gel, use it to extract humidity out of my relatively dry temperate Mediterranean So-Cal air, then heat the gel up to create humid air from which a dehumidifier could distill water from?"

So, of course, I look to see if it's been done.

And lo, some researchers last year wrote a scholarly article about a "super hygroscopic polymer film" that would make commercial water extraction from the air feasible. The film, made from plant fiber, attracts water. When heated to 60 degrees Celsius, water leaves the film (the plant fibers twist and mechanically push the water out, down at the microscopic level).

So, that's interesting.

Or you could get two or three more 50 gallon barrels and fill them with water.

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Originally posted by trapper189:
There’s an installation of these in Southern Tunisia near the city of Tataouine:

Wow. Was that the inspiration for the moisture farms on Tattoine?

Put in a pool, depending on size, 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of water on hand, chlorinated and easily obtained and filtered if you have the filtration capabilities.

Here in FL pools are abundant, and easily useable for baths, flushing toilets, whatever you need.

Pools are immediately contaminated after a hurricane and I wouldn’t use them for anything but flushing toilets. It took 10 gallons of the pool store chlorine, two days of running the pump continuously off a generator, as well as cleaning the filter three times a day to get my pool under control after Ian.

I didn’t have a generator for Charley, so I emptied the 13,000 gallon pool by using two pool hoses and syphoning the water out. After the first week, there was no saving that water. I did find my sliding glass doors at the bottom.

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