This water harvester can turn desert air into drinkable water

So 1/3rd of a cup of water per pound per 24hrs (I assume?) so like 40+ pounds of the stuff to cover each persons daily consumption needs plus crazy amounts more for crops. Very practical to have a full farm field of synthetic material all covered in translucent boxes which all need to be opened, closed, and harvested each day.... these people are definitely in touch with the people of the land

Another potential commercial application of this technology might be crawl space dehumidification. In the South Eastern United States (Tennessee, Alabama) many homes have crawl spaces and major moisture problems in those crawl spaces. It is a very complicated problem, but with constant rain, A/C in the home both vented and unvented crawl spaces get a lot of water which causes mold problems. A simple solar powered dehumidifier that could be placed outside a home and in a crawl space vent and cycle significant amounts of water out of of the homes crawlspace would be beneficial. If placed there, if could theoretically work trouble free for years. Absorbing water at night and releasing it to the air during the day when the suns heats it up.

Think about it.. between owning a properly sized MOF (or an atmospheric water generator), a solar system and a hydroponic farm one can live anywhere off the grid that he or she pleases. Places where land is very very cheap! At giveaway prices. A desert oasis can be made.. And lets not forget satellite internet. Technology is empowering the individual and decentralizing water, power and food supply. Cool stuff to ponder

I can see the water harvester as being a very important first step into hydroponics on a "large" scale, simply because one-hundred percent pure water can be readily obtained and circulated in an "enclosed" CO2 ecosystem. One possibility for removing CO2 from the air we breathe would come from the Linde air-liquefaction process. Simply by compressing the air we breathe and removing the excess CO2 from the earth's atmosphere while at the same time using the CO2 gas as a refrigerant and pumping it into the grow room for the plants to use. If it were to be possible, this could solve many problems, as well as being a highly efficient way to grow plants that can be tailored to everyone's needs, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gases from the earth's atmosphere! Thank you for this very informative video!

Ah, the old Fremen dream - vegetation on Arrakis!

Something to nitpick about: 0:46 The total water content is not higher at night, as far as I know? I believe this is an inaccurate statement. The key factor here is that relative humidity is much higher at night, because temperatures drop so low in a desert. Anyway, amazing work from UC Berkeley, very interesting and promising project!

cant you use a peltier device and put a solar panel on your device and collect a lot more water?

Thank you, from a thirsty world!

What would happen if you used this as a medium for fungi which has a symbiotic relationship with a cyanobacteria? Could this create some kind of implosive energy production framework?

MOF is the key to your research. I have the same idea, but I can't find or fabricate the MOFs in my country.

Kull Wahad! Bless the maker and his water!

This is really an extremely interesting development for water harvesting. The following question arises in my mind: how does such a device solve the accumulation of atmospheric particulate matter (PM), which settles on any surface and after a long time turns everything into a layer of concrete? This becomes especially The case when the water molecules mix with it.

Bring it to market.

Very exciting. Now why not make the box "funnel shaped" so that the water droplets have a more concentrated path?

Where has this gone in regards to its commercialization? Thank you.

Since only a thin layer of MOF will be needed, a large yield of water can be achieved in a relatively small space, such as a cubic meter, by placing a thousand layers in that space. On the other hand, this equipment can be configured for permanent operation, taking advantage of the energy offered by the new perovskite-based solar panels and other emerging technologies. And, even more, heating the air to increase the production of water, which can reach up to 600 grams per cubic meter of air. I am Spanish and I do not know the British-USA measurement system.

I love how he wears eye protection whilst using the PC :P

Amazing idea

Is atmospheric water harvesting responsible for no rain? Removing water from air through nets or machine can change the atmosphere. This technology is gaining momentum in many countries. Rainfall is delayed in many countries.

Wait…using aluminum as the MOF? Won’t that result in high aluminum in the resulting water? Also, you poured water into the MOF. But in a desert, where would the water come from, to saturate the MOF? Is the MOF hydrophilic, so, grabs humidity? Is this system supposed to container-replicate the ancient tech of digging a hole in the ground, placing a container in center at bottom of hole, & placing a cone-membrane over the hole, directed at the cup, to collect “dew” rising from the earth?