Questions and answers

For our project, we got some frequently asked questions. Below are the questions and their answers.

Question: Why is prototype 4 used instead of prototype 3 even though prototype 3 produced a higher water average?

Answer: The reason why we decided to use prototype 4 instead of prototype 3 even though prototype 3 got an average of 96 ml of water and prototype 4 got an average of 75 ml of water is because prototype 4 is more cost and eco-friendly design than prototype 3. Prototype 3 used a power strip to power our fountain pump while prototype 4 used a solar panel to produce its electricity for the fountain pump.

Question: Why did you guys design this when there is already an air to water generator available?

Answer: We designed our AWG (Atmospheric Water Generator) even though there is already an AWG made before. The current AWG is a huge machine that produces tons of water while using up too much electricity. It takes a lot of money to make the AWG and then you have to pay the electricity bills because of how long the machine was running. On the other hand, our AWG design is portable, cost-friendly, and electricity-free. Instead, our design uses the sun's sunlight to create electricity to power the generator. It can also be moved everywhere because of the compact size, and the generator can work at anytime and anywhere.

Question: You remove water from the air, what happens to the atmosphere now?

Answer: Even though we are technically "taking out" water from the atmosphere, some of the water evaporates back into the atmosphere. There is some evaporation of water in other places and eventually, the evaporated water will make up for the amount of water taken from the atmosphere in our device. This resets the equilibrium in the atmosphere. One of the rules of nature is that a process and it's reverse (condensation and evaporation) are taking place at an equal rate so that there is no overall change. This also applies to our atmosphere so no; we are not sucking out air from the atmosphere.

Question: Are these impurities in the water you generated? How do you know?

Answer: There could be impurities such as biological pathogens in our model. These pathogens are normally found in very small amounts and are present in common drinking water, so there aren't any seriously harmful impurities. To be on the safer side, you could boil the water or filter it.

Question: You added copper tubes, doesn't that make condensed water unsafe?

Answer: No, copper tubes are safe for our fresh condensed water because there is limited exposure to copper in our model. Trace amounts of copper are frequently found in drinking water and copper is an essential micronutrient, with lots of benefits if not present in a very high amount. Our model makes sure the water does not contain an excess of copper, so it is safe to drink. As mentioned in the question above, we believe that the water generated will most likely be filtered and then consumed so the presence of copper is not an issue.

Question: Can our project be applied in a large scale?

Answer: Yes! Our model can be used as a 1:1 scale model that is portable and can be used anywhere. In a larger scale, we can use a larger commercial scale Atmospheric Water Generator, which can generate thousands of gallons of water, with the efficiency of solar power, which is not present in some modern day AWG's.

Question: What are some real world applications for our model?

Answer: There are many various applications in our model. This model can be upscaled to increase efficiency in a commercial scale, and can be used by itself as well, as described above. We can also use our model in refrigeration! The idea of designing this device came from a refrigeration coil! The most practical use of this device, however, is agriculture. A farmer can set up this device to collect water that can be used for irrigation, which can help to plant and water crops. Other applications include ice making, water quality, and so much more!

Question: Does our device end the drought?

Answer: Drought will always be a major part of Californian ecology. Our device is designed to provide an innovative solution to combat the California Drought. Our device can help mitigate the catastrophic effects of the drought, not end it completely. After all, drought has defined our ecology for several centuries, and it is not bound to change anytime soon.