The topic problem related to engineering for this paper is in obtaining water from air. It is common knowledge that there is moisture in air that is easy to obtain in relatively small amounts. As such, scaling up the process is an engineering challenge that is being explored by various research institutions and companies.
The most common procedures involved in generation of water from the atmosphere is through cooling air below the dew, pressurizing the air or exposing the air desiccants. However, pressuring the air is impractical due to the resources needed. Therefore, the primary methods relied on are cooling air or exposing the air to desiccants.
Of course, the areas that lack access to water to the extent that they seek to obtain it from air are often poor and marginalized areas that lack the power sources to extract water actively from the air. As such, the problem to be solved by this research deals with a passive but effective means of obtaining water from the air.
Viable solutions include:
Whisson Windmill
AquaMagic
Fog Harvesting Machine
Warka Water Towers
Best possible solutions:
Warka Water Towers
Whisson Windmill
The evaluation criteria that should be applied in arriving at the optimum solution include;
The use of locally available materials
Easy construction and maintenance
Amount of water generated.
Cost
This project relates to engineering by the fact that while small call solutions are available, it is an engineering challenge to adopt, make changes to and transform the solutions to operate of a significantly larger scale.
