Air Harvester

It’s always fascinating and strangely deja vous like when modern science takes its cue from science fiction novels of forty or even fifty plus years ago. For instance, the James Dyson Award this year was given to an engineer who created the Airdrop, a design that pulls water from the air to irrigate drought and desert areas. Fans of classic science fiction may recall similar WindTraps from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune, which were described as devices placed in the path of prevailing winds and capable of drawing the moisture from the air. The Airdrop works on roughly the same principle that even the driest of air contains water molecules that can be extracted after lowering the air’s temperature in order to create condensation. Another plus for the Airdrop design is that it can be powered by sunlight. Hopefully in the future it may even utilize the very wind it draws moisture from for its power. Purposefully simplistic in its design, the Airdrop could be the ultimate low tech solution for farmers in drought regions; giving them the flexibility and freedom to install and maintain a system that provides a crop saving supply of water.