Web-site-Global Water Crisis

Starting a thread on the subject here is a good start for feedback on general or specific questions or discussions.

I am looking for comments/suggestions/ideas from CR4 users as to whether such a web-site makes any sense.

Not really unless you have a specific idea you wish to develop and a user base and funding to push it along.

You have some ideas regarding data collection from site, some of which are not practical without sufficient funding. I don't have a smart phone so why would villagers have them but not a viable source of drinking water.

Have you thought about just coming up with a handful of viable solutions to cover different sites and situations that could be used when and where they are needed?

For example, access to water table available so solar powered bore pumps would work

For example, access to lightly polluted water so a form of water purification filter (there are many viable products on the market).

For example, access to sea water so some form of water desalination process (again there are viable products on the market already).

For example, no access to any viable water sources so water extraction from the air or polluted water evaporation (again using solar energy).

Well, its a start and what i would do.

Many thanks for you input.

Having participated in existing well upgrades from "bicycle" water pumps to the India II pumps with Living Water International in Nicaraugua I agree that water purification systems need to be considered as well. While in Haiti recently I realized that water wells may not be able to sustain the growing need there and desalination would be too costly. Rain water collection systems can also help but there is finite storage capacity.

If water can be decontaminated by evaporation then a simple green house or other evaporation chamber could be used to evaporate the water, maybe grow some food in the process, and collect condensed water.

By evaporating the water in the green house, then funneling the water saturated air over a surface that is cooled below the dew point, water will begin to condense on the surface of the condensing channels where it can be funneled for collection.

Since there will be need for transferring the vaporization heat away from the condensing channels (540 cal/g) perhaps ocean water, cool air from a cave or a hole could be circulated over the opposite surface of the condensing channels. In this case the condensing channels would need to have relatively high thermal conductivity in order to transfer the condensation heat away from the channels.

An energy intensive process is to just pull the water out of the air by cooling a surface below the dew point.

Potable water is a GREAT CAUSE. I may be of limited financial means but my imagination and willingness to work for the right cause is in abundance. If you can think of something I can do - count me in.

Gavilan