Portable 3D-printed device claimed to produce enough drinking water from thin air for a family of four every day – Water from Air project says it can capture 1.6 gallons of drinking water per day

Two university graduates have designed a 3D printed vessel that can produce around six liters (~1.6 gallons) of drinking water a day, from nothing more than thin air. The aptly named ‘Water from Air’ project condenses water from air using 3D printing, advanced materials, and a phenomenon known as atmospheric water generation (AWG). Moreover, they aimed to achieve their goal with a portable and affordable device.

If you have easy access to water, you might not think about it very often, but Water from Air designers Louisa Graupe and Julika Schwarz, were inspired to tackle a problem after becoming aware of the billions of humans worldwide living without water security. We can see World Economic Forum figures confirm that “About 72% of the world’s population faces water security issues, with 8% facing critical water insecurity.” Solutions are usually far beyond what an individual could address, “Existing systems for harvesting water from the atmosphere are often large, expensive, and technically demanding,” underlines the 3D Printing Industry blog.

The same blog indicates that the Water from Air device uses 3D printing, fused deposition modeling with transparent Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) material, and the opaque lid made using stereolithography (SLA).

You may like

• Students 3D print drone that can swim underwater and fly through the air

• MIT researchers crack 3D printing with glass

• Chinese scientists tout infinitely recyclable 3D printer resin

Looking at the diagrams and texts, it isn’t entirely clear what non-3D printed parts of the vessel need sourcing separately. For example, we read that the Water from Air device is centered around “metal-organic frameworks, porous materials that act like microscopic sponges.” Is this 3D printable? This is a key component that draws in water molecules when the top is open. The water condenses and drips down to a separate section of the vessel when the top is closed.