Cambridge: Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a high-tech "bubble wrap" capable of collecting safe drinking water directly from the air - even in Death Valley, the driest desert in North America.
According to Emirates News Agency, the new water harvester is a major step towards providing safe, accessible drinking water to people across the globe. It functions wherever water vapor can be found in the air, the researchers said. The device is composed of hydrogel, a highly water-absorbent material, enclosed between two layers of glass, resembling a window. At night, it absorbs water vapor from the atmosphere, and during the day, the water condenses on the glass due to a special cooling coating. The liquid water then drips down and is collected in a system of tubes.
The hydrogel is shaped into domes that mimic bubble wrap, increasing the surface area and, consequently, the amount of water it can hold. Researchers tested the device for a week in Death Valley, which spans parts of California and Nevada and holds the record as the hottest and driest place in North America. The device successfully produced about a quarter to two-thirds of a cup of water daily, with expectations of higher yields in more humid areas. This innovation outperforms previous attempts to harvest drinking water from air without requiring electricity.
An additional advancement is the mitigation of lithium salt leakage, a common issue in similar hydrogel designs that rendered water unsafe. Although a single panel may not suffice for an entire household, multiple panels can be installed due to their compact size. Researchers estimate that eight panels, each measuring 3 feet by 6 feet (1 m by 2 m), could adequately supply households lacking easy access to safe drinking water. Compared to bottled water costs in the US, the device could amortize its cost within a month and remain operational for at least a year.
Xuanhe Zhao, a co-author of the study and a professor at MIT's mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering departments, stated, "Now people can build it even larger, or make it into parallel panels, to supply drinking water to people and achieve real impact." The research team plans to conduct further tests of the panels in additional resource-limited settings to assess the device's performance under various conditions.
