David Stuckenberg, cofounder and chief operations officer at Genesis Methods, explains that the WaterCube makes use of proprietary liquid and strong sorbents—supplies that take up water—that basically “kind a handshake with the water within the air.” The machine then heats these supplies to extract the water.
Atmospheric water turbines sometimes require a considerable quantity of power to run, however Stuckenberg claims the corporate’s supplies work 400 % higher than these which can be at present commercially out there, and that they’ve a really excessive affinity for water.
However the tech comes at a steep worth. The WaterCube delivered to St. Petersburg is listed at $860,000. The corporate simply began promoting a second, smaller system for dwelling use referred to as the WaterCube 100, which retails for $20,000 and is in regards to the dimension of an HVAC system. That system can generate about 100 to 200 gallons of water per day. Effectivity ranges from 0.07 to 0.8 kilowatt-hours per gallon of water and prices anyplace from $10 to $80 a day to function, relying on value of power and humidity. A WaterCube can run on both photo voltaic or standard power.
The machines make extra water in a moist atmosphere and work properly in atmospheric humidity all the way down to 40 %. Stuckenberg says the corporate is continually bettering its expertise and is working with the US Division of Protection to have the ability to generate water at 10 % humidity.
The WaterCube connects to a constructing’s water provide in order that water doesn’t should be harvested immediately from the machine. “The techniques are designed to hook up with something from a backyard hose to a hospital water system, and supply water that goes by way of 4 steps of filtration earlier than it leaves,” Stuckenberg says.
After Storm Mawar hit the US territory of Guam in Might 2023, Genesis Methods labored with the US Air Power to check the WaterCube 1000 in a catastrophe response situation on the island.
At their present worth, and for the quantity of water they’re capable of generate, these units are unlikely to be the only real supply of water in some of these conditions anytime quickly. In line with figures printed by the US Division of Power, a hospital the scale of All Kids’s would sometimes use anyplace from 10,000 to 90,000 gallons a day, relying on the providers supplied, age of the constructing, and water use practices. That’s excess of the two,000 gallons that the bigger Genesis Methods unit is ready to produce in 24 hours.
Nonetheless, in situations the place water can’t be restored or transported instantly to an space, these units could possibly function a bridge or a supplementary supply of water. However so as to be helpful, they have to be in the proper place on the proper time, and the logistics of transferring an 18,000-pound machine in a catastrophe state of affairs may be tough.
In line with a hospital spokesperson, All Kids’s didn’t find yourself needing to attract water from the system; shortly after it was delivered, town’s sewer system was useful and water service resumed with a boil advisory. “We had been capable of modify our operations accordingly,” the spokesperson mentioned on Friday. Over the weekend, Florida’s AHCA relocated the WaterCube to a shelter the place it may be shortly moved to a different location if wanted.