The objective of this project was to test various materials to determine which ones collect the most atmospheric water when exposed to the same environmental factors. The experiment observed the effect of weather conditions, a material’s surface area and hydrophilicity on atmospheric water collection. The initial hypothesis was that hydrophobic materials with the greatest surface area would collect the most water. The materials were placed in the same outside location each night for twelve trials. The following day, the materials were weighed to see how much water each had collected. On average, ribbed plastic collected 10.8 mL of water per trial, which was over 20% more than any other material. This result partially supported the hypothesis because although hydrophobic materials collected more water, surface area did not have a significant effect on water collection.
Read More...Browse Articles
Impacts of COVID-19 on daily water use: Have people started using more water?
In this study, the authors investigated whether water usage changed in São Paulo during the COVID-19 quarantine and explored reasons why.
Read More...Characterization of Drought Tolerance in Arabidopsis Mutant fry1-6
In a world where water shortage is becoming an increasing concern, and where population increase seems inevitable, food shortage is an overwhelming concern for many. In this paper, the authors aim to characterize a drought-resistant strain of A. thaliana, investigating the cause for its water resistance. These and similar studies help us learn how plants could be engineered to improve their ability to flourish in a changing climate.
Read More...Analysis of electrodialysis as a method of producing potable water
Here, seeking a way to convert the vast quantity of seawater to drinking water, the authors investigated the purification of seawater to drinking water through electrodialysis. Using total dissolved solids (TDS) as their measure, they found that electrodialysis was able to produce deionized water with TDS values under the acceptable range for consumable water.
Read More...Heavy metal and bacterial water filtration using Moringa oleifera and coconut shell-activated carbon
One-third of the world's people do not have access to clean drinking water. Nadella and Nadella tackle this issue by testing a low-cost filtration system for removing heavy metal and bacteria from water.
Read More...A comparison of the water quality between Chinatown and Bayside: two demographically different regions
The authors looked at differences in water quality between Chinatown and Bayside. They wanted to look at the racial and economic demographics of each region and how that correlated to access to clean drinking water. Ultimately they did not find any significant differences in water quality, but identified important future directions for this work.
Read More...Effects of microconvection on bubble displacement during water electrolysis under microgravity
The authors looked at the effect of microconvection on displacing bubbles during electrolysis. They found that microconvection does have a role in bubble displacement in water electrolysis which can be applied in the production of hydrogen.
Read More...Tap water quality analysis in Ulaanbaatar City
There have been several issues concerning the water quality in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in the past few years. This study, we collected 28 samples from 6 districts of Ulaanbaatar to check if the water supply quality met the standards of the World Health Organization, the Environmental Protection Agency, and a Mongolian National Standard. Only three samples fully met all the requirements of the global standards. Samples in Zaisan showed higher hardness (>120 ppm) and alkalinity levels (20–200 ppm) over the other districts in the city. Overall, the results show that it is important to ensure a safe and accessible water supply in Ulaanbaatar to prevent future water quality issues.
Read More...A novel bioreactor system to purify contaminated runoff water
In this study, the authors engineer a cost-effective and bio-friendly water purification system using limestone, denitrifying bacteria, and sulfate-reducing bacteria. They evaluated its efficacy with samples from Eastern PA industrial sites.
Read More...Leveraging E-Waste to Enhance Water Condensation by Effective Use of Solid-state Thermoelectric Cooling
Water scarcity affects upwards of a billion people worldwide today. This project leverages the potential of capturing humidity to build a high-efficiency water condensation device that can generate water and be used for personal and commercial purposes. This compact environment-friendly device would have low power requirements, which would potentially allow it to utilize renewable energy sources and collect water at the most needed location.
Read More...