Photo: MIT News
MIT engineers have developed an atmospheric water harvester that captures water vapor and produces safe drinking water across a range of relative humidities, including dry desert air. The black, window-sized vertical panel is made from a water-absorbent hydrogel material, enclosed in a glass chamber coated with a cooling layer. Evaporated vapor condenses on the the glass and then can flow down and out through a tube as clean and drinkable water. The system runs entirely on its own, without a power source. The team ran the device for over a week in Death Valley, California, and even in very low-humidity conditions, it squeezed drinking water from the air at rates of up to 160 milliliters (about two-thirds of a cup) per day. The team estimates that multiple vertical panels, set up in a small array, could passively supply a household with drinking water, even in arid desert environments.
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