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I think the key difference is that "Skywater machines use a patented Adiabatic Distillation Process, where water vapor is reduced to liquid without a gain or lo

I think the key difference is that "Skywater machines use a patented Adiabatic Distillation Process, where water vapor is reduced to liquid without a gain or loss of heat." so it's a little different than just a regular dehumidifier. It also seems to be able to pull a lot more water than a normal dehumifiier? "Skywater machines are ranging from Skywater 30 (up to 30 gallons of water each day) to Skywater 300 (up to 300 gallons of water a day)." You are right we should be more skeptical though. Like how much energy does this thing use?

sdenton4 8y ago
The prize requirements limits costs to two cents a gallon, it looked like, so can't be all that bad in the energy front.
- tejohnso 8y ago
  "Because the process uses a large amount of electricity, designers paired it with a biomass gassifier, a low-cost source of energy. When the gassifier is filled with wood chips, coconut shells, or whatever biomass is locally available, a process calls pyrolysis vaporizes that material. That makes the system hot and humid, the ideal environment to run the air-to-water machine. Because the process uses a large amount of electricity, designers paired it with a biomass gassifier, a low-cost source of energy. When the gassifier is filled with wood chips, coconut shells, or whatever biomass is locally available, a process calls pyrolysis vaporizes that material. That makes the system hot and humid, the ideal environment to run the air-to-water machine. " https://www.fastcompany.com/90253718/a-device-that-can-pull-drinking-water-from-the-air-just-won-the-latest-x-prize https://www.fastcompany.com/90253718/a-device-that-can-pull-...
  - dang 8y ago
    That link looks more informative than the original press release, so we changed the URL from https://water.xprize.org/prizes/water-abundance/articles/waxp-grand-prize-winner https://water.xprize.org/prizes/water-abundance/articles/wax.... Thanks!

sdenton4 8y ago

The prize requirements limits costs to two cents a gallon, it looked like, so can't be all that bad in the energy front.

tejohnso 8y ago
"Because the process uses a large amount of electricity, designers paired it with a biomass gassifier, a low-cost source of energy. When the gassifier is filled with wood chips, coconut shells, or whatever biomass is locally available, a process calls pyrolysis vaporizes that material. That makes the system hot and humid, the ideal environment to run the air-to-water machine. Because the process uses a large amount of electricity, designers paired it with a biomass gassifier, a low-cost source of energy. When the gassifier is filled with wood chips, coconut shells, or whatever biomass is locally available, a process calls pyrolysis vaporizes that material. That makes the system hot and humid, the ideal environment to run the air-to-water machine. " https://www.fastcompany.com/90253718/a-device-that-can-pull-drinking-water-from-the-air-just-won-the-latest-x-prize https://www.fastcompany.com/90253718/a-device-that-can-pull-...
- dang 8y ago
  That link looks more informative than the original press release, so we changed the URL from https://water.xprize.org/prizes/water-abundance/articles/waxp-grand-prize-winner https://water.xprize.org/prizes/water-abundance/articles/wax.... Thanks!