The future for fresh water ? Hope so...

[danielamartindm]

I've been waiting for this technology ever since Kevin Costner's mariner recycled his own urine to drink in Water World. Water is heavy to carry, it forms biofilms in tanks and lines, and it would be great to make potable drinking water as we go, rather than stockpiling it or buying a large water maker.

[buzzstar]

The video I was able to watch implies, but does not directly state, that desalination occurs. It does say the water is clean. Good filtration of "dirty" or polluted water is and has been readily available for a long time (from straws on up to pitchers and well beyond) but easy non-powered desalination in decent quantities, not so much.

[sainted]

I dun know... I'm not sure that I want my boat to fill up with water, fresh or not.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by clownfishsydney

The video says two to three years before they do larger scale testing in the field (I think).

And by the way, the CSIRO invented Wifi.

And don't be fooled - there is no mention anywhere of how much pressure was used to force the H2O through the membrane. Seems the big deal with this membrane is that it can handle water containing petroleum contaminants.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by waterman46

And don't be fooled - there is no mention anywhere of how much pressure was used to force the H2O through the membrane. Seems the big deal with this membrane is that it can handle water containing petroleum contaminants.

In the video it looked like it was gravity-fed. That and the tiny graphene membrane would explain why they only produce half a liter per day.

If they can manufacture the membrane in larger sizes, you might just replace the membrane in your RO watermaker with this one for a higher output and resilience to traces of oil in the raw water.

Hence it will not replace a watermaker, but enhance it.

[Dave_S]

They say they want to make A4 sized (bigger than quarto, smaller than fullscap) filters that will filter 50 to 100lt / ≤ 25USG per day by gravity feed.

Pump half a days water supply from the ocean into the top tank each night before bed and in the morning. Let it filter into the house supply tank all day.

Get 99% pure water for the cost of the filter and some plumbing, save yourself 250kg, a $6000 water maker, a generator to run it.

What's not to like, some of you guys would complain if you won the lottery :-)

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Dave,

They may want to, but the extract said 4 sq. meters for 1/2 l. from Port Jackson water. Even your giant catamaran would require double that for 1 l. per day, which isn't enough for you if you go north. Hopefully the research continues, and output can be improved.

Ann

Ann

[jefjo]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

This looks promising!

The video shows it is gravity feed which means you just fill the top tank and away you go. Buy your filters, 50lt per day no more to pay. Hardly any more weight, no expensive pressure pumps, almost no maintenance, no power consumption.

We need some more details like cost and life span of an A4 sheet and ummmmmm, that's it.

Take my money.....

https://au.news.yahoo.com/sunrise/vi...ions-of-lives/

Like a Britta filter for your boat!

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Hi, Dave,

They may want to, but the extract said 4 sq. meters for 1/2 l. from Port Jackson water. Even your giant catamaran would require double that for 1 l. per day, which isn't enough for you if you go north. Hopefully the research continues, and output can be improved.

Ann

Ann

Hi Ann

I think that might be a typo. It should read 4 sq. centimetres to produce the 1/2 litre of purified water per 24hrs.

[waterman46]

What is this bit about the video being "only licensed to show in Australia"? Is that because they are protecting patents (very understandable)? Internet being what it is, and the level of interest this invention should generate, this video should show up on www anyway, even if the company itself does not "license" it.

BTW, I made a cold fusion machine, but I never licensed a video of it it to anyone, so I'm still not rich.

[goat]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Hi Ann

I think that might be a typo. It should read 4 sq. centimetres to produce the 1/2 litre of purified water per 24hrs.

I think I'm reading your response wrong. They are saying they can make 50 sq cm (half litre) of fresh water out of 4 sq cm seawater? Seems a tad unreasonable. I'll finish my coffee and take a look at it. Maybe the other way around? Possibly a 4 sq cm filter footprint?

Coffee first. 1/2 litre.

goat

[StuM]

Originally Posted by goat

I think I'm reading your response wrong. They are saying they can make 50 sq cm (half litre) of fresh water out of 4 sq cm seawater? Seems a tad unreasonable. I'll finish my coffee and take a look at it. Maybe the other way around? Possibly a 4 sq cm filter footprint?

Coffee first. 1/2 litre.

goat

You are confusing square cm (an area) with cubic cm (a volume)
1/2 litre is 500 cubic centimeters,

4 sq cm (a bit less than 1" x 1") is about 1/155th of an A4 sheet of paper.

They are saying that 4 sq cm of filter can process 1/2 litre of water per day. So theoretically, an A4 sized filter would produce about 75 litres per day.

[Capt Gill]

What am I missing here, this should be major news, more revolutionary than LED's. Clean drinking water is one of, if not the most challenging issue in the world today. Why aren't venture capitalists jumping in on this ? Are there major obstacles that are not mentioned ? Should I sell my w/maker before it's worthless ?
As it's been said before, "if it seems to good to be true, then maybe ...".
Would be nice though.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Capt Gill

What am I missing here, this should be major news, more revolutionary than LED's. Clean drinking water is one of, if not the most challenging issue in the world today. Why aren't venture capitalists jumping in on this ? Are there major obstacles that are not mentioned ? Should I sell my w/maker before it's worthless ?
As it's been said before, "if it seems to good to be true, then maybe ...".
Would be nice though.

The only thing you're missing is that it is still in the very early research stage.

Over the last few years, we've seen a number of such releases about graphene filters from several universities that are doing similar research, each one a fairly small advance on previous efforts.

I'm picking it's still quite a few years away from getting out of academic research to the point where commercial development is on the cards.

[GordMay]

The tech-research firm Gartner uses an analytic tool that it calls the Hype Cycle to help investors determine which discoveries will make money. A graph of the cycle resembles a cursive lowercase “r,” in which a discovery begins with a Technology Trigger, climbs quickly to a Peak of Inflated Expectations, falls into the Trough of Disillusionment, and, as practical uses are found, gradually ascends to the Plateau of Productivity. The implication is not (or not only) that most discoveries don’t behave as expected; it’s that a new thing typically becomes useful sometime after the publicity fades.

From: Graphene may be the most remarkable substance ever discovered. But what’s it for?
By John Colapinto
➥ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...erial-question

➥ https://www.gartner.com/technology/r...hype-cycle.jsp