How can SunToWater Technologies turn moisture in the air into drinkable water?

[Astronuc]

Drinking water, also known as potable water or improved drinking water, is water safe enough for drinking and food preparation. Globally, in 2012, 89% of people had access to water suitable for drinking.[1] Nearly 4 billion had access to tap water while another 2.3 billion had access to wells or public taps.[1] Yet 1.8 billion people still use an unsafe drinking water source which may be contaminated by feces.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_water

SunToWater Technologies's units turn moisture in the air into drinkable water
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/headlines/20160810-with-new-water-generators-carrollton-startup-can-unlock-the-ocean-above-your-head.ece

In the blackland prairie of Texas, an ocean is thousands of miles away. But Benjamin Blumenthal, co-founder and chief executive officer of SunToWater Technologies, says we're all standing under the sixth ocean -- the one that's above our heads.

The Carrollton startup makes an appliance that unlocks that water supply. The company's water generators -- each about the size of a central air conditioning unit -- use air, salt and solar power to produce gallons of drinkable water. They could bring water to rural communities without a municipal water supply, regions stricken by drought or developing countries with water contamination.

http://suntowater.com/

They weren't the first though
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/atmospheric-water-generation.232097/#post-1710240I've often wonder about catching cloud moisture on screens placed in the hills or mountains where clouds form, e.g., along the west coast (marine layer), or using sunlight to evaporate seawater which is then condensed, as opposed to using fossil fuel as a thermal energy source.

Desalination is a big industry in the Middle East.

 

[fresh_42]

I've often wonder about catching cloud moisture on screens placed in the hills or mountains where clouds form, ...

I have seen something like that in a documentary. I think somewhere in south america they harvested mist or clouds if you will, because it has been at a high altitude.

On Lanzarote (av. rain $112 \; mm \cdot a^{-1}$) they make even wine only with the morning mist, which they capture with small half circular stone walls around the plants. But I have forgotten how it tasted.

To clean water in sunny places one could use PET bottles and let the UV radiation clean the water from bacteria. I'm not sure whether I would drink it, but it allegedly works.

 

[orkamedus]

Hey, glad to hear you talking about SunToWater! Full disclosure: I work for SunToWater Technologies, LLC.

There are actually a lot of systems like ours out there, mostly based on refrigerant technologies, which cycles through a compression/decompression state, producing a cooled surface for water to condense upon. Similar to those massive nets that collect morning dew and moisture, there is an inherent problem with condensing the air floating around you; the air around us is full of contaminates. You will always need to filter water generated in these ways.

Desalination has one massive problem: the majority of water scarcity stricken areas are not near a body of water. Desalination is only effective when the destination for water is also near the coast, as once you get a couple miles inland, the cost of trucking this water rapidly overshadows the cost to produce.

SunToWater may not be the ultimate solution, but we present a way to collect water from the air through a salt-based desiccant, which only absorbs water, and can produce water anywhere in the world (of course, not where it's snowing, because the air has 0% relative humidity when <32 degrees— also, if you're in a place where it's snowing, you don't need an atmospheric water generator to make water; you need a match).

I will definitely keep an eye on this topic if anyone has any company or technology specific questions!
For anything specific, you can email me at gordon@suntowater.com!