Getting drinking water from humidty condensate...

rb_5

Humidity Control System Produces Drinking Water

SELMA, Texas—A new humidity control technology captures water during the dehumidification process and purifies it into drinking water. The H2O Liquidaire system from Munters purifies moisture into drinking water and cools indoor environments with the dry air it releases, according to the manufacturer. Units can produce as much as 3,500 gallons (13 134 L) of water per day. Munters sees it as a means of reducing water shortages. The company recently shipped a unit to Thailand. Another is headed to Indonesia, where PT Enternair Water Indonesia will use the system to air-condition a manufacturing plant while capturing water, which will be bottled for sale. PT Enternair expects water sales to pay for the unit within two years.

A few years back Danfoss Europe worked with a consortium to develop a solar powered medicince cooler for undeveloped regions of the world...

Throw togther these bits and you have a means of storing medicines and creating drinking water for third world nations...


All we have to do is put the folks from Munters together with the Folks from Danfoss and voila - A United Nations Award!

Carl PE

my question is..

exactly how are they "purifying" it? RO? I haven't seen too many condensate pans I'd drink out of.

"the air inside your house is 10x dirtier than the air outside" - I know it's true 'cause I heard it on tv

actually, I seem to remember a pump setup that would spray the condensate on the condenser coils outside and crust them up very nicely. I don't think it was too popular.

anyway, does it say how they're "purifying" it?

rb_5

Full press release in ASHRAE Journal

corporate link http://www.munters.com/

Full Press Release

Munters H2O Liquidaire System Captures Water From Air
Unit destined for Jakarta, Indonesia, will provide more than 13,000 liters per day
PRESS RELEASE

From Munters


A worldwide water crisis will create water shortages affecting more than half of the world's population within 50 years, according to a 2003 United Nations report. About 90 percent of the severe problems are in developing nations.

While pollution, irrigation practices and overdevelopment affect existing water supplies, Munters offers a new solution for capturing moisture from outside air and turning it into pure drinking water.

The company's humidity control H2O LiquidAire system captures water during the dehumidification process and purifies it into drinking water. Both processes rely on a single source of energy.

The process is quite simple. Outside air passes through an efficient air filter, which purifies it by removing dust, pollen, mold spores and other airborne particles. The moisture is condensed from the outside air and collected in an ultraviolet -protected chamber. The condensate water is stored in a holding tank, which is continuously ozonated to prohibit bacterial growth. As needed, water is drawn from the tank, filtered through a VOC carbon filter and passed through an ultraviolet sanitation light. The water is now purified for drinking, and the cooled dry air is sent indoors to create a comfortable indoor environment.

"Every air conditioning system generates condensate from its cooling coils, which is just dumped down the drain," explains Larry Klekar, national accounts sales manager for Munters. "This system captures this virtually distilled water and turns it into drinking water.

The resulting water has been tested for 28 metals, plus 10 wet chemistries, including coliform bacteria. All of the elements registered at well below industry standards, according to San Antonio Testing Laboratory. Texas requires water to have fewer than 500 parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved solids (tds) for it to be rated potable. The testing lab found that the water from the H2O LiquidAire System had 0 ppm tds, compared to the city of San Antonio's water rating of 220-240 ppm tds.

"In our 16 years of water analysis, Munter's water is without a doubt the purest water we have ever tested," said Richard Hawk, owner and general manager of San Antonio Testing Laboratory.

Depending on the size of the unit, the system can produce as much as 13,134 liters of water per day. Munters has recently shipped a unit to Thailand. Another is headed to Jakarta, Indonesia, where PT Enternair Water Indonesia will use the system to air condition a manufacturing plant while capturing water, which will be bottled for sale. PT Enternair expects water sales to pay for the unit within two years.

"Humidity control is necessary in tropical areas, where the quality of drinking water tends to be poor," says Klekar. "We're bringing the two technologies together to solve both problems."

Some thoughts on the above:

As self-proclaimed fanatic of technology and futuristic studies in HVAC stuff - I get all hot and bothered over the creative brains used to develop these new systems...why? Because the potential good (GREAT) stuff that comes out of the Munters (safe drinking water from humidity) and Danfoss'(preserving medicines with solar) of the world shines very nicely on our industry and good PR beats the kickin' and linkin' we get most of the time.

jackchips_2

I don't drink

but this would certainly make me order up a CC and water.

John R. Hall

I got it

Munters sent me a press release about it. I passed it along. I'm not sure about it. Maybe I'll wait to see a pic of mom, dad and the kids turning on the spicket and downing a few glasses.

Matt Undy

Energy use

It seems that enough electrical power to run it may be a problem in an area where you don't even have enough potable water. I haven't looked at the product so I don't know its energy source, but an absorption system may be more practical than a motor-compressor system. It doesn't seem it would be too hard to make an absorbtion system solar.

Of course in genreal if drinking water is a problem comfort cooling is about the last thing your thinking of.

Matt

PJO_5

What a great idea...

I'm sure there will be bumps in the road of perfecting this, but what potential...

I'm not sure about the energy usage either (UV and Ozone use quite a bit), but having viable drinking water as an added benefit is always a plus...especially in the areas mentioned.

Take care, PJO

Christian Egli

Delicious?

But distilled water tastes awful. Isn't it the minerals and stuff that give normal water its good taste? and don't we need the calcium, magnesium and other metals as part of a healthy diet? How about chlorine iodine and fluoride?

Seems to me the water in San Antonio is more balanced than the air conditioned water with 0 ppm. At least you won't need a vitamin supplement.

Wait, I see what is going on, they are trying to put a trademark on drinking water, just like the fine wines: AC for "appellation controlee".

Kidding aside, beer is better when it is so hot like in the tropics! But, I am sure distilled water will be much healthier than swamp water and it will also be better for the ironing.

Why not?

Mark Eatherton1

Vitamin sales GALORE!!

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon your perspective) pure water is not good for the human bean. If it's too pure, it will strip the human been of all its nutrients. If the human bean wants to continue to coexist with other human beans (on this side of the lawn),he must take MEGA doses of vitamins, and other supplements to maintain a healthy bean. (Puns intended:-))

Vitamins anyone...

I know of at least 2 mega vitamin marketers that also offer a substantial line of water purification systems (RO) that cause them substantial increases in vitamin sales... Maybe I can become the THIRD company to jump on the band wagon. I'm sure that between magnets and this I could convince Mi39ke to come abord as a sales/spokesperson and sell a gazillion of them.

Oh baby, I think my ions are jumping:-)

Mikey??

ME



To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Jeff Krawic

mmmm water....

I seem to remember a "quote" from W. C. Fields regarding drinking water............. LMAO

rb_5

hmmmm

let’s see …Munters…

…who just happen to own over 50% of the world’s humidity control business…

…who’s community and charity work in the United States includes children's homes, abused women's centers, sponsored families, food drives for soup kitchens in local communities, fund raisers for United Way and Make-a-Wish Foundation and corporate donations support for nonprofit organizations such as Little League, Boy/Girl Scouts, Cancer Society, Breast Cancer and numerous others….

who's client list of blue chip accounts looks like the whos who including Sony, GE, WalMArt, Pratt & Whitney, Pfizer and so on...

who while keeping the US military cool also figured that the poorest of Indonesia’s’ population would rather drink purified bottled water than the contaminated stuff running down the sewer ditches.

…develops a potentially rewarding technology to satisfy a thirsty population whilst dehumidifying buildings…

(just a minute - my brain wants to take a thought detour...lets see before there was Xerox there were large inefficient printing presses...Before cars there was horse drawn carriages...Before wireless phones there was smoke and messages in a bottle...Before digital watches there were the Swiss...before there was space flight there was the Wright Brothers....)

ok I'm back...having recalled a million examples....we're reminded there is …Munters technology applied in the Space Shuttle where body wastes are converted back to useable fluids…

not sure I have the skills, knowledge or wherewithal to challenge the scientists and engineers at Munters nor their ability to make drinking water possible from the dehumidification process….

seems like the astronauts come back in one piece…

anyways the excitement isn’t in whether they can make a economically viable product or not - Munters will survive wether they succeed or fail at this endeavor...

what makes it righteous is in the fact that in someones life – they are making a difference…

That makes for good PR – something our industry dearly lacks.

I didn't submit a favorite quote in the other thread but here's a few of my favs...


"Lets make a dent in the universe" Steve Jobs

“To Be somebody or to Do something" Robert Coram

“Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.”Phil Daniels


“If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed, and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much either.”Michael Goldhaber

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,but that it is too low and we reach it." Michelangelo

“Minimize risk...Respect the chain of command...Support the boss...Make budget” Cultural characteristics of last place companies.

jerry scharf_2

I love the idea

We're not talking about desalinization, this is an interesting idea which could make sense. Depending on the situation, this could be a real help. I'm with rb on this, following through on ideas like this is how we meet our future. I'm not one to guess where new technologies will land, I've been wrong too many times to keep trying.

I just am having trouble with the economics of the system for poor places. It seems like there are three areas that require significant capital and operating investments. The power generation capacity, the power distribution capacity and the unit itself. If I compare this against a fairly low tech solar distiller, it's hard to imagine the poor getting very much benefit out of this. If these contries can't even get solar water purifiers going, how can they deploy a complex system like this in the sized needed to serve 10s of millions of people. Add to that the centralized nature of such plants in the face of civil wars that cause significant problems around the world.

I have a friend who works on solar cookers to go to Africa and elsewhere. One of the primary goals is to make something thas costs under $15 to make locally and lasts for at least a year. She taught me a great deal about the economic realities of poor parts of the world.

jerry