From PESWiki

Directory of technologies related to water, including methods of obtaining potable water, using water as fuel, gray water recycling, etc.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Technologies 2.1 Water as Fuel 2.1.1 Batteries 2.1.2 Vehicles 2.2 Drinking Water Technologies 2.2.1 Water from Air 2.2.2 Conservation 2.2.3 Desalination 2.2.4 Filtration 2.2.5 Purification 2.2.6 Testing 2.3 Water Heaters 2.4 Water Softeners 2.5 Gray Water 3 Resources 4 See also

Overview

• Renewable Energy Brings Water to the World - In addition to providing pumping stations in remote areas, every day solar and wind energy systems are saving billions of gallons of clean water around the world and the opportunity exists to save much more water. (Renewable Energy Access; Aug. 23, 2005)
  

Technologies

Water as Fuel

See

• Directory:Water as Fuel
• PowerPedia:Water as fuel
• PowerPedia:Water gas
• Directory:Running Vehicles on Water
• Directory:Hydrogen from Water
  • Directory:Hydrogen from Water using Boron
• OS:Water Fuel Cell
• Directory:Electrolysis
• PowerPedia:Browns gas
• Video:Water as Fuel (via ZPE)
• Directory:Water Dissociation Using Zero Point Energy
• Directory:Water-Powered Batteries
• Directory:Deep Lake Water Cooling
• Directory:Mixing Sea and River Water

Batteries

• H2O Batteries and Products - e.g. Tango Group product line utilizes a water-powered battery that consists of two electrodes made of special alloys, which, when immersed in water, the resulting chemical reaction produces electricity. Simply refill the battery as the water evaporates - typically every 2 to 3 months. The battery has a minimum continuous life of 2 years.
  

Vehicles

Also: Directory:Running Vehicles on Water

• Scientists Discover How to Make Robots Bounce on Water - One of the fastest moving insects in the world, the water strider, which can travel up to 100x its body length in one second, distributes its weight over a large surface area, but until now science has been baffled about how they jump onto water without sinking. (Environmental Graffiti; Dec. 9, 2007) (See Slashdot)
  

• Water Car- Builder of the World's Fastest Amphibious Vehicles - Fiberglass amphibious vehicle, styled after the 2002 Convertible Camaro body style, and powered by a Turbo charged 2.5 Liter 300 HP Subaru engine, goes 125 mph on land, and 45 mph in the water.
  

Drinking Water Technologies

In addition to the sub-categories listed below, see also:

• Directory:Home Generation:Water Harvesters

Water from Air

See: Directory:Water from Air - Methods of extracting water from air. (separate index page at PESWiki)

Conservation

• Aquanotion - TwoFlush dual flush system converts the standard North American style toilet in to a water conserving, money saving TwoFlush toilet: a small flush for liquid waste and a big flush for solid waste. The system is an inexpensive, proven design that has been used in Europe and all over the world for years.
  

• Conservation > 'Air shower' set to cut water use by 30 per cent - Scientists have developed a simple 'air shower' device which, when fitted into existing showerheads, fills the water droplets with a tiny bubble of air. The shower feels just as wet and just as strong as before, but now uses much less water. (LiveScience; Nov. 10) (See manufacturer CSIRO)
  

• Air Conditioning Waste Water Recovery - Stiffler Scientific is undertaking a research project is to determine the feasibility and practicality of recovering waste water from residential air conditioning systems that would otherwise be discarded in a sewer system. (OSEN; Dec. 30) (See StifflerScientific.org)
  

Desalination

• Solar powered water desalination - Spectra Watermakers' portable Solar Cube is powered by sunlight and wind, and can provide up to 3,500 gallons of clean drinking water per day from polluted water or salt water. It can also provide enough emergency electricity to refrigerate medical supplies or power communications equipment. (Inside Greentech; Mar. 7, 2007)
  

• Deluge - Has developed a new way to economically take salt out of water, and it depends on a readily available resource - hot water.

• Seawater Brine Recycling Technology - IES Tech's recycling of seawater brine (industrial waste) eliminates the pollution resulting from desalination plants, double the drinking water quantity and receive the valuable minerals as magnesium and high quality table salt. The technology is fully developed and tested, a demo unit is in function showing all the aspects of this technology.
  

• Better way to desalinate water discovered - Membrane distillation process uses waste heat or inexpensive fuel to heat the water forcing it to evaporate from the salt solution. The cleansed vapor then travels through nano-sized pore in the membrane to wind up condensed in the cold water on the membrane's other side. (PhysOrg; Feb. 9, 2006)
  

• Wave-Powered Desalination - Design harnesses the renewable energy of waves to produce fresh water. Production versions of the "desalination ducks" would be about 10 meters in diameter and 20 meters long. Each would supply water for more than 20,000 people. (New Scientist Tech; Nov. 7, 2006) (See Slashdot discussion
  

• Ways ocean and wastewater can be desalinized in California - Sandia National Laboratories studying the best ways to desalinize - and make potable - ocean water, subsurface brines, and wastewater. (Sandia; Sept. 6, 2005)

• Cheaper, better water desalination using 'forward osmosis' - A forward osmosis system developed at Yale causes water flow through a membrane with a high-concentration solution of ammonia (NH3) and CO2 on the gathering side, which are then boiled off. (Environmental Science and Technology; May 3, 2006)
  

• Lebanon may start using the sun to get fresh water - Lebanon might soon look toward the sky for its freshwater but the drops won't be coming from the clouds. Project in which a desalination plant will be designed, powered by a solar pond along the seashore line. (Daily Star, Lebanon; Jan. 26, 2005)

• ZonneWater.net: Solar Sea Water Desalination - Reinvented the Solar still. Fresh water out of seawater with solar energy.
  

• Desalination Taps Geothermal, Solar Thermal - A Phoenix inventor said he has developed a new way to economically take salt out of water, and it depends on a readily available resource - hot water. (PESWiki; Sept. 7, 2004)
  

• Sea Solar Power - Ocean Thermal Electric Conversion company technology includes a water desalinization byproduct of millions of gallons per day. (PESWiki)
  

• O/U Water Desalinization > Clean Water Products - patented technology by Dr. Cluff can desalinize water without using chemicals at just $300 / acre-foot, producing 60,000 gallons per day, recovering salt and minerals valued at up to $600 per acre-foot.
  

• Watercone uses sun's energy to turn seawater potable - Using a process of vaporization and condensation, the solar cone turns saltwater into fresh in a day. Presently looking for licensees; individual units not for sale. (Thanks Keelynet; Dec. 2005)
  

• Cheap Drinking Water from the Ocean - Carbon nanotube-based membranes, being developed by the U.S.' Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will dramatically cut the cost of desalination. Tiny sieve actually conveys water much faster than science would predict. (MIT Technology Review; June 12, 2006)
  

• Oxen power desalination unit - Desalination unit in remote India is run with the help of a pair of oxen using an indigenously developed reverse osmosis membrane. (NewIndPress.com, Sept. 11, 2004)
  

Filtration

• Human Powered > Aquaduct Mobile Filtration Vehicle Wins Google's Innovate or Die Contest - Designed for third world applications, the vehicle combines the work of pedaling a bike with the work of transporting and filtering water. Mobile pedaling option possible with simple clutch. Will this western idea prove plausible where it was intended? (PESWiki; Jan. 19, 2008)
  

• LifeStraw - Portable water purification tool cleanses surface water and makes it safe for human consumption using a halogen-based resin to kill bacteria, textile pre-filters to remove particles and active carbon to withhold parasites.
  

• Converting Tailpipes into Water Fountains - Modified military Humvees, now in testing, turn diesel exhaust into fresh drinking water for soldiers. At the core is a heavy-duty carbon filter bed, engineered by LexCarb, that filters toxins from the exhaust stream. (Popular Science: Jan. 2006)
  

• 'ESP Water Filter Products - There are multiple technologies currently used in stationary and portable water treatment, whether for home/office use or for camping. Some are common and some are new. Each is used to address a specific contaminant or water problem.
  

• Make A Water Filter From Old Tires - Crumb rubber, chewed up old tires, is used on athletic tracks, playgrounds, and increasingly as an alternative to mulch. Now, Dr. Yuefeng Xie, associate professor of environmental engineering at Penn State Harrisburg, has found crumb rubber makes an excellent water filter. The rubber keeps the large particles out on top, and thus creates a much higher throughput. (TreeHugger; Nov. 21, 2006)
  

• Clean Water with Nanofilters - Water can pass, while bacteria and viruses are blocked. Filters sturdy enough to be cleaned repeatedly, sterilized, autoclaved. (MIT Technology Review; Nov. 2004)

Purification

• Forward osmosis filtration system - HTI have developed a forward osmosis membrane that allows water to pass through, yet blocks very small contaminants. This allows a pure drink to be created from highly turbid and toxic supply waters, even sea water. It is a passive system which harnesses the osmotic potential created by sugars and electrolytes, producing a dilute sports drink, not simply water. (GizMag; Oct. 15, 2007)
  

• Difinitive Energy - AquaClean™ processes contaminated water with an electric arc (plasma) to produce clean, potable water which spontaneously creates a high energy, non-polluting, sustainable fuel (AquaLene®). The fuel is claimed to produce 3x more energy than is required to maintain the arc by powering a generator in a closed-loop process.
  

• Cleaning Up Water with Nanomagnets - It may seem an unlikely way to clean up drinking water, but scientists at Rice University, in Houston, have found that nanoparticles of rust can be used to remove arsenic with a simple wave of a magnet. (MIT Technology Review; Nov. 13, 2006) [See also Proton Cell and water purification]
  

• AquaStar - Portable Ultraviolet C-band Water Purifier can safely and quickly treat a liter of water in about a minute, using a pair of standard camera batteries to generate ionizing radiation that quickly and effectively disrupts the cellular chemistry of all known pathogens.

• Ozone Generators and Advanced Oxidation Processes - Spartan Environmental Technologies supplies ozone generators and other advanced oxidation processes for industrial and municipal water and wastewater treatment applications such as disinfection and for the removal of color, taste, odor, iron, manganese, COD, TOC and specific organic compounds. These processes make water safe to drink, recycle or discharge into the environment. Ozone is generated on site and after use decomposes to oxygen. This eliminates the need to store chemicals on site and does not introduce toxic chemicals into the water.
  

• Water Purification via Nano-Gold - Gold spheres, measuring 15 atoms in diameter, mixed with Palladium, and acting as a detergent, hold promise for cleaning up toxic waste more inexpensively and much faster than present methods. (Smithsonian Magazine; Oct. 2007)
  

• New Plastic to Cut CO2 Emissions and Purify Water - Scientists have created a plastic material that mimics pores found in plants and is exceptionally efficient. It can separate carbon dioxide from natural gas a few hundred times faster than current plastic membranes. (Slashdot; Oct. 15, 2007)
  

• Solaqua.com - SolAqua offers Solar Water Distillation products. These systems are sized for applications ranging from individuals to communities.

• Aqua Sun International solar water purification - Solar powered portable water purification system is capable of purifying 100 gallons/day on solar power. Distributed by First Water, Inc.
  

• WorldWater & Power to Introduce New Mobile Solar Power Unit - MobileMaxPure™ tows into a disaster areas to provide portable electricity, water purification, and telecommunications. With the flip of a switch, 15 solar panels automatically unfold to create a 12x18 foot photovoltaic array. (Renewable Energy Access: Mar. 21, 2006)
  

• Ray of light for water industry - University of Aberdeen scientists developing new technology that uses sunlight to treat dirty water and create electricity simultaneously. Three industrial partners develop novel technology for breaking up pollutants found in all types of water supplies. (PhysOrg; UK; April 28, 2005) (Renewable Energy Access; May 3, 2005)

• Solar Mobile Critical Response Water Unit Sent to Mississippi - WorldWater & Power Corp., developers of proprietary high-powered solar technology, is sending its trailer-mounted, solar-powered electrical water pumping and purification system to help the relief efforts for hurricane victims in the devastated Gulf Coast area. (PrimeZone; Oct. 12, 2005)
  

• Zip Project - Zero Impact Platform project was created to handle waste cycle and water cycle management with clean, renewable technologies available, as well as to support research and development into the same. (PESWiki; Aug. 5, 2005)

• Invention Set to Revolutionise Sewage Treatment - Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) has unveiled a simple aerobic sewage treatment plant that recycles water, odor-free, that they say is certified fit for human consumption. (AllAfrica.com; June 19, 2006)
  

• Segway creator unveils his next act - Inventor Dean Kamen wants to put entrepreneurs to work bringing water and electricity to the world's poor. 1 kW generator uses anything that burns, including cow dung. Water purifier makes 1,000 liters of water per day. (CNN; Feb. 16, 2006) (See Slashdot discussion)
  

Update: Deka Research Stirling engine

(5.47 Minutes) Dean Kamen's Water Machine
Tv appearance of Dean Kamen showing his machine that will change the world (You Tube March 21, 2008

• New Earth Systems CentrO3fier - Modular treatment system highly effective at removing wide range of contaminants including ammonia, arsenic, heavy metals, toxic organics, phosphates, and many others. Second generation completed; preparing for market.
  

• EnergyQuest Tests Solar-powered Water Purification System - Using only solar power, a new water-purifying system by EnergyQuest, that is both easy to store and portable, will undergo testing by the Texas Water Resources Institute of Texas A & M. (Renewable Energy Access; Jan. 4, 2006)
  

• Delft water-purification method promises radical improvement - Delft University of Technology research has developed a compact and environmentally-friendly purification method, in which aerobic bacteria form granules that sink quickly. (EurekAlert; June 25, 2006)
  

• Wastewater treatment plants based on a full biological process - Onsite wastewater treatment process involves proprietary air-positive biologic reduction. (Export.gov.il) (See: [1])
  

Testing

• Avantis - "Water facility efficiency is drowning in severe budget cuts, intensified regulation, health and quality concerns, as well as outdated equipment and an aging work force. Fortunately, there’s Avantis -- today’s most effective enterprise asset management solution that can reduce the risk of implementation with pre-defined work processes and best practices."
  

• Testing the Waters - Sensicore is using lab-on-a-chip technology to test water quality rapidly. (MIT Technology Review; Aug. 31, 2005)
  

Water Heaters

See

• Directory:Edwards Heat Pump for Hot Water

Water Softeners

See Directory:Home Generation:Water Softener

Gray Water

• Grey water recycling by Brac Systems - Collects water from shower drains, bathtubs and laundry, then filters and pumps it through a dedicated supply line to the toilet tanks for flushing, reducing average household water consumption by a third. It is designed into the plumbing of new construction and existing residential homes.
  

• Energy Recovery - The PX Pressure Exchanger™ recovers energy from the high-pressure waste stream of seawater desalination reverse osmosis systems at up to 98% efficiency. It provides the most energy cost savings in the market -reducing power costs by up to 60%. (Thanks Daniel Bowers)
  

• Waterwall Solutions - The Waterwall is a modular rainwater storage system for urban areas that can be connected to make the most of your valuable space, made from stabilised food grade plastic. It can be used as a fence, a feature, an under-eave tank or purely as water storage in a narrow out of the way space.
  

Resources

• SODIS - Solar Water Disinfection links.

• OnsiteWater.com - Journal for decentralized wastewater treatment solutions.
  

See also

• Water - directory at FreeEnergyNews.com
• Directory:Water from Air
• Directory:Hydrogen from Water
• OS:Water Fuel Cell

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