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FREE water from AIR device: BUSTED

Thunderf00tCited 7× on HN, 2019–2026
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commentary · general · evergreen · 2019–2026 on HN

Thunderf00t critiques the MIT and Berkeley metal-organic framework device that claims to pull water from air using only solar heating. He argues the energy accounting does not work and that such devices are essentially fancy dehumidifiers.

HN uses it as the standard debunking to cite whenever a new water-from-air device is announced.

7 comments from Hacker News

@jojobas2026-06 · in “This Jacket Pulls Drinking Water from Thin Air”

You can wear silica gel since about 1918 - only needs some heat to get the water out and cold to condense it. Then again, why would you want to wear your dehumidifier (ok ok water harvester)? Is it for excursions into damp areas, so that you can then return to your dry home to extract water? Then, I believe everything in this video still applies. ▶ this video

Critical View on HN
@jojobas2026-06 · in “This Jacket Pulls Drinking Water from Thin Air”

It is a dessicant dehumidifier, useless for the same reason as this MIT/Berkley thing from 9 years ago. ▶ this video

Critical View on HN
@RaiausderDose2022-10 · in “White House is pushing ahead research to cool Earth by reflecting back sunlight”

These dehumidifiers produce half a liter a day and need around 72 watt which is maybe 1€ per liter drinking water for my area The tech is cool but not really new or a solution to all water problems, the energy cost is relatively high. More about it here: ▶ this video

@torginus2022-03 · in “Google open sources solar atmospheric water generator”

None. Or alternatively, gathering Reddit/HN karma or channeling NGO funds into overpriced useless science projects instead of helping people. Thunderf00t has made a ton of videos about devices like this, for example: ▶ this video The TLDW version is these devices are fancy dehumidifiers. They need a ton of power, and lots of air humidity to be practical, which are exactly not the conditions these devices are advertised to operate in. And even then, the water they produce is dirty, so it needs to be purified and treated to be actually drinkable. Even if we solve all these challenges, it turns out that doing something dumb and low tech, like transporting drinking water on trucks is actually a lot more efficient. This is another one in the long list of devices designed to help those hypothetical poor people, like OLPC and the Gravity Light. It turns out these people have already solved these issues, and much better, usually with off-the-shelf alternatives and a bit of ingenuity.

Critical View on HN
@imglorp2021-08 · in “Spanish engineers extract drinking water from thin air”

Nope, there's no magic or free lunch. It depends heavily on local conditions which might not always be suitable. Thunderf00t has debunked a bunch of other enterprises doing water from the air: link link ▶ this video link etc

Critical View on HN