The Watermill
Environmental friendly invention or just a gadget for the rich?
Figure 1: The Watermill, by Element Four of Britisch Columbia. (this picture was copied from http://i.techrepublic.com.com)Have you seen the latest gadget, soon to be on the market? It’s a device you can hang on your wall, in your kitchen or just in your lounge. What does it do? It takes the moist from your room air and makes drinkable water, enough to sustain a six-person family for a day everyday. Great , you might say, because this might save me a lot of money on the water bill. And it’s environmental friendly. Great!
How about the money?
Here’s the catch. The selling price is $ 1300.00, which means you’d have to really like to drink water based beverages. Since the only purpose for this gadget is to get fresh drinking water, you cannot use it for appliances. So, your water bill will probably not be reduced significantly.
If we do a small calculation we find that six people need 6 times 2 liters of water a day. This comes down to 12 liters per day. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency a six-person family will have an average water bill of $ 450.00 a year and uses 2271 liters of water a day. So, with $ 1.23 a day, only 7 cents is spent on drinking water.
If we do a small calculation we find that six people need 6 times 2 liters of water a day. This comes down to 12 liters per day. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency a six-person family will have an average water bill of $ 450.00 a year and uses 2271 liters of water a day. So, with $ 1.23 a day, only 7 cents is spent on drinking water.
This comes down to $ 25.55 for drinking water a year.
For the sake of argument we will assume the price of drinking water will not change, because of innovative ways to produce drinking water by water companies. With an average water bill of $ 450.00 per six-person household a year, of which only $ 25.55 is for drinking water, you’d have to use the apparatus all day everyday for no less than 51 years to get your money back on your investment.
How about the environment?
Next to that, the water is extracted from the air by heating it up to boiling point so condense will form. The drops of water are collected in a coil and are exposed to UV-light to purify the water. To supply enough water for the whole family, air must be drawn into the apparatus, which means there’s a fan in it. All these means are electrically powered.
So, your power bill will be surprisingly higher at the end of the month. By the way, electricity costs more than water.
Did I leave out the part that it makes a lot of noise, because of the fan, all day everyday?
Oh, yes, I almost forgot. The designers have contacted the UN to ask if this organization might be interested in supplying African people with apparatuses based on this mechanism. Think about it, in places where water shortages are abundant, do you think the air humidity will be sufficient to provide a 15-person family with a day’s drinking water everyday? Maybe a machine build up from four or five of these devices will be sufficient – if powered by solar energy – to provide drinking water for one such family.
I believe it's a gadget. What do you think?
