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posted by martyb on Sunday December 09 2018, @12:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the technology dept.

A simple device that can capture its own weight in water from fresh air and then release that water when warmed by sunlight could provide a secure new source of drinking water in remote arid regions, new research from KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science & Technology) suggests.

At the heart of the device is the cheap, stable, nontoxic salt, calcium chloride. This deliquescent salt has such a high affinity for water that it will absorb so much vapor from the surrounding air that eventually a pool of liquid forms.

https://www.rtoz.org/2018/12/07/drinking-water-sucked-from-the-dusty-desert-air-using-hybrid-hydrogel/

The full research paper is available on-line.


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday December 09 2018, @06:28PM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday December 09 2018, @06:28PM (#772034)

    It's all a question of scale and density. There is moisture in the desert, enough to support X people per square mile (X varies with both the specific desert region in question and the style in which the people intend to live...)

    For that matter, there's moisture on Mars - maybe not enough to support 10 million people on the whole planet (until we crash a couple of water-comets on it), but this kind of technology might assist in collecting water in such conditions.

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