7.5 litres per day doesn’t sound like much for a $6000 investment. My dehumidifier in Scotland costs £170, and can extract 3 litres of water per 8 hour period at 21 degrees C in a 50% RH environment. All that for the princely cost of 175 Watts. In guessing coastal California has a higher humidity than my numbers in summer time. As well as costing money, it also costs roof space that could otherwise be taken up by more solar panels. So what consideration am I missing here?
So to sum up, a very noisy system that costs about $6,500 will give you a little less than 2 gallons of water. Is that enough water to drink, cook with and clean clothes with?
We are going through a sever drought here in the northeastern part of Mexico, very interestingly, I got an add and seemed too good to be true, and it doesn't seem magical, but facing the situation we're going through with water scarcity and reservoirs almost empty, I believe I would be willing to get one of these, if I had the money.
U could just pour contaminated water in a terracotta pot and it will seep through as clean drinking water. Another problem with using a dehumidifier or air conditioner is it needs lots of power for it’s peltier disk which is what condenses air, or it uses peltier disks AND coolant. U could mimic this by getting a piece of plexiglass glass over a plastic tub with a drain plug.
For me, i think source is the best solution since you are getting clean water from air. And the beauty part of it,is integrated with a solar panel,thus sufficient.
I installed two panels at my home in Tucson, AZ. The installation team was fantastic - very professional, timely, and they did quality work. The panels are not noisy - this video gives the impression that they are loud. In my opinion, they are not loud at all. Ours running at full power cannot even be heard from the ground level (they are installed on my roof). We have the latest models, and they may be quieter than older models. But, ours are very quiet and produce no discernible noise from ground level. They work beautifully, providing quality, fresh and delicious drinking water to our home. I highly recommend them.
I have tested many different water bottes by parts per million. I can't tell what the parts are, but Aquafina tested as the cleanest water for me. It was the only water that showed zero ppm. Their filtration is top notch. It is a little more pricey than some of the other waters but it's the only water I will drink.
The unfortunate thing is that where water is scarce usually the air humidity is also low and these systems work less efficiently but otherwise a cool system.
Same here…I live in Arizona and with the exception of our monsoon season the humidity is just too low. Might not even get one liter per day if that. I really do think our region is going to need to figure out a way to desalinate massive quantities of sea water in the decades to come.
Water is scarce in many areas with high humidity, it does not mean regular rains happen. And the panels were tested to work as advertised in ~10% humidity, that is not a problem. The only issue is the cost, a number of places with no clean water nearby already use air capture to provide their drinking water, but they do that by building a frame with a net and putting a bucket under it, which costs maybe $100 to produce same amount of water as a $3000 panel.
@@jrf3307 More like half a gallon, though some quotes claim double that. The amount also depends on how much air can be sucked in by the fans, so maybe they were using the silent mode? Incidentally, the highest output I have seen mentioned was only little over two gallons per day; while some people keep claiming the panels are an AC or dehumidifier, the way it actually works is there is a spongy material that absorbs water(and only water) on its own and releases it to the storage tank when the material is heated up. When the "sponge" is full it cannot absorb more water even if the air humidity is high. Also, in cloudy weather the solar panel might not charge the battery properly so there isn't enough electricity to keep operating all night. I have said this before and I say it again: While it is great the panels are able to work without needing extra infrastructure, they should have added a way to use an external power supply.
I think that the information is partially skewed. He lives in San Diego so he's by the ocean which means the relative humidity (R.H.) level around the city is sufficient enough to provide the amount of water he gets throughout the year and we can all assume that if the R.H. is at 10% that he's going to be getting a whole lot less. Personally, in my opinion, it's an overpriced (solar powered) dehumidifier. They should have used ceramic bearings in those fans to bring some of that noise level down because they really remind me that whining sound when you walk into a room full of data servers.
Here we can get lab tests for water. Mainly to see if wells and pipes are okay. Those reports include radioactive material and microbes. We have Radon in our soil so it is real issue for some. Would be nice to see such lab test for water produced from air with that system. Those panels seem very nice for your climate and have their uses.
How does it work during Fire season? When there are smokes in the air? Does it produce clean drinking water? What kind of flat roof do you have? And do you paint or put what kind of sealant to prevent leaks? Great video, btw.
Are you not worried about bacteria growing in the system? Given that is probably not too cold on your roof it could be something that is able to grow inside the plumbing there.
I can also see this being used during environmental disasters/emergencies when water systems becomes compromised. Great video as always! I'm a huge fan of your data driven content
Reverse osmosis systems can do the same, for much less money and bulk. So long as there is running water of some kind. Source's only selling point is not requiring a water source at all. But I can't see many situations where that applies - except maybe providing drinking water and hand washing on remote hiking trails.
As bad as many city waters are like flint Michigan and many old city building plus many under ground systems are now being polluted around military bases from stuff that has been buried since the 50’s
GoSun also makes a similar product that delivers up to 200 gallons/day to the entire house (drinking, laundry, showers, etc.) for $45K, and it doesn’t have to sit on your roof.
@@markmuir7338 When there is a massive flooding, the water supply can be severely contaminated even with stuff from dead animals. No water sources can be trusted in such situations and this might actually be the more reliable in such situations.
In our situation our primary home is near a city well (in the AZ desert) and water is filtered before getting to the house but installed a whole home filtration system that goes through 2 large tanks (softener and filtration system but doesn't involve salt) in the garage plus a particle filter prior to the tanks and a UV filter after the tanks. Under the kitchen sink is another 5 filters system (one being membrane filter). Then after that there is a split to the main fridge where there is an additional filter for the ice. So, our ice cubes have been through 10 filters and the water from the kitchen tap has been through 9 filters and when testing it against bottled water it has lower ppm than the bottled water. I think the whole home water filtration system ran around $5k and under sink filter ran another $1k. Changing filters costs about $200/yr. The water in the showers doesn't scale anymore and feels much softer and been purified to be very clean drinking water. We fill up gallons from the kitchen tap and have not bought any bottled water in years. As the well is only 2 blocks away not really worried about any issues about it as I've checked the hydrology maps in the area and water from wells in our area have all shown no water quality issues. South of us in Phoenix the wells start showing various toxic elements and various quality issues. Water however is a major concern for those living in AZ that don't have well water access.
The website says the panels are designed to last 10 years, so the 15 year warranty is questionable. I see this system more for off grid living or where there is no water supply. I’m interested though, hope they can bring the price down a lil more.
In summary, if you're reading this comment, get a filter for your tap water. It just takes till 9:00 for him to get to that point. You'll save tons of money with filtered tap water over source. And it'll be more convenient.
There is a location in my state that's below sea level and has more backwater channels than land. Getting drinkig water supply to the people living in those small river islands have been an unsolved problem to this day. Even if we get too monsoons, these people cannot build huge tanks in small islands for every household to save all the water they need for the whole year just from rainwater harvesting. They literally live surrounded by water but don't have public water supply. This would actually be perfect for those homes and with the high humidity levels here, they might even get enough water other utilities as well.
I wonder how efficient they would be in places that would make sence to have this units, like deserts where the humidity in the air is very low ?? 🤔 they are kinda just giant dehumidifiers with a filtration system, and In places with enough humidity would it make more sence just to built a well and add the necessary filtration systems ?
@@eone2345 I live in a similar situation and we only use our well water for watering plants. This could be a good solution for homes high humidity areas who doesn't have space for a giant rainwater harvesting tank. Or it could be used for during summer and winter, along with a smaller rainwater tank. There is a place below sea level in my state which has more backwater canals than land and getting water to homes in these tiny river islands are a huge conundrum....This fits the bill perfectly for them.
Thank you so much Ben for your in depth video on the hydro panels. Your video has helped me I was looking for the Pros & Cons about buying this system myself, as they are quite expensive. Thanks again.
Sillyness. Solar powered dehumidifier. Even in the near optimal environment of San Diego (~70F & 70%RH) each unit makes ~1gallon/day. You can donate them to places that need them, but its the least cost effective way to bring them water. "Drop 50 of them in the middle of nowhere" haha. Find a place where you couldn't build some sort of well/rain collection system for $150,000 that outputs a tiny 50gallon/day.
I understand that these are specific to creating water but how different is this to just powering a humidifier with a solar panel and then running it through a filter
7.5 liters/day amounts to just over 601 gallons/year. 83¢/gal is pretty high in my opinion, I refill my water for 35¢/gal. I think it’s hard to be fair/objective in a sponsored video.
No. It's 723.650859 US gallons per year. Which would be 69 cents a gallon. But what he actually said was about 18 cents a gallon. So no one seems to be able to do basic math anymore.
@@JamesNewton No. It's 723.17331375 US gallons per year. ( 7.5 x 365 x 0.2641729 ) lol, just trollin. But on another note, this is for the first 15 years under warranty.... well, say these things just so happen to break on year 14 (ya know, by "chance") and you get a new set of the newest model... over a decade from now.... then you will probably get another 15 years (or more) out of them... but only $100 a year for maintenance.... or free if you don't mind the bad taste or it is a zombie apocalypse.
7.5 liters per day is 723 gallons per year. So at $500 a year, that is 69 cents a gallon. About 2 gallons a day. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women. So this is enough drinking water for 2 people, or maybe a couple and a kid.
Thanks for the review. Well done. Just one comment , and I know you did not say this, but alkalinity is really not a concern at all unless the water is causticly acidic or alkaline which would be almost impossible. A lot of water companies are promoting "Alkaline Water" as a health benefit but there is absolutely no evidence that its healthier to drink Alkaline water nor does it do anything to prevent cancer as is sometimes claimed. Our kidneys are exquisitely evolved to control our body's pH so if you drink something that is more Alkaline than your natural pH the kidneys (and some other buffering systems in the body) rapidly work to correct that and neutralize the effects. If anyone sees the low alkalinity of the Hydropanel water as an issue I just want to be clear that its not. I don't work for Hydropanel or have any relationship. I'm just a physician who prefers that people make decisions based on science rather than pseudoscience and this whole Alkaline water thing is complete pseudoscience. Great review though
As a foreigner who lives in USA (Florida to be exact), it is indeed weird to see people buying bottled water. Where I’m from people just use filters, cheaper and more sustainable than bottled water
As a resident of Dubai I can tell you we get drinking water and general water für kitchen use every couple of weeks. This is really dependent where you live on this planet.
In places with access to running water, reverse osmosis is a very cost effective way to get exactly the same quality of water out as Source. That's why so many homes have them. I'm struggling to see where Source makes sense. Water output is strongly affected by humidity in the air. In places dryer than San Diego you'll get even less water out. Maybe it makes sense on remote trails for hikers to fill their bottle or wash their hands (think airplane toilet faucets). But even in disaster zones, it would be cheaper and easier to just fly in bottled water.
Dubai. 50++++% humidity, ground water is salty. Independent unit, capex, no running costs for electricity. Water from Air is a big thing here. Heck, there is a farm here doing that with those unit. 1.5 MILLION liter - per day.
Get past the initial purchase of technology that yields 15 gallons of clean drinking water daily is a phenomenal quality of life improvement for Americans. If you drink 64 ounces of water daily & use 1/2 to 1 gallon daily for camping-style showers you're still left with 13.50 gallons of water for storage, watering plants, cooking, watering pets, etc. A camping-style shower involves getting your body wet, then turning off the water, next you lather up all over your body, then turn on the water again to rinse off. Another variation of that is using shower chairs and a 1 gallon water cooler (Igloo or Coleman for example). Using a battery powered water pump attached to a hose and handheld flow control nozzle you can have the essence of a shower with a sprayer nozzle. It can take longer but if you're not in a rush what does it matter? To heat 32 ounces of water use your microwave oven to heat the water for 3 minutes per batch. Four batches later (12 minutes) you'll have a gallon of hot water. In an insulated water cooler it will hold the heat for up to 3 hours. While not the best solution for certain families or individuals you can save a bunch of money on heating your water doing it this way.
As a french person and drinker of water in bottle. I can see the difference between many sources of water and distilled water with add mineral taste flat. If you buy a deshumificator to dry your clothes, it will consume not more electricity because you don't used a dryer. and you have a high quantity of water
That was a great review, one of the best, and you even cover the install. But as a Scot has pointed out below in the comments his dehumidifier does just as gooder job at a far less cost, even if you have to add minerals and second filtering system.
I have been in HVAC for over 30 years. It would be more efficient to do the same thing with a Heatpump and have that same energy provide more than one purpose. You could be using that energy and capturing it to heat water, space in your home, refrigeration or cooling, there are many ways. I am also a Solar guy that has worked on and designed systems for years. It is great that people are thinking outside the box but there is still a lot more potential than what they sold you or you purchased. There is also the filtration and purifying side of it but you know that already. 😉
@@ladyjjj A heat pump can both refrigerate and dump heat at the same time. While in air-conditioning mode you pull heat out of the air and the air and moisture that comes in contact with the exchanger cools and condenses the moisture or humidity out of the air. The condensed moisture collects and runs out the drain pan into whatever container you want. The Heat that is extracted can be used somewhere else if you wanted to or just exhausted back out into the air. The advantage of the Heat pump over a standard air conditioner is the ability to enter a defrost cycle if and when needed. It would amaze you to see the actual amount that comes out in a 24 hr period. You simply need to sterilize or filter the water you collect. The heat that is discharged could be dumped into a water heater, green house, compost pile, thermal battery to pull heat off of at night when the outside temp falls, whatever. There are many opportunities and I am sure that it would cost less and provide more bang for your buck. In the heat mode side of a Heat pump it is 300% efficient. In the cooling side it is not as efficient.
But HOW does it work? You only point to the panel sections. How do you get hot humid air to give up the juice? The last I checked, hot air has an affinity for water. Is there a cooling unit to condense water vapor or some sort of membrane to “filter” the water out? Perhaps a desiccant?
Trivial basic school physics. YOU COOL IT. Or, better, you run the air over a cool surface. Go to a number of places in the world and you can see water running down windows (with air conditioning behind them).
Slightly off topic, the book The Sustainable House is about a renovation of a suburban house in Sydney. They "rain harvested" 100%(?) of their water, if I remember correctly. I do remember they got reduced rates (land tax) because they proved they were disconnected from municipal services. Wonder how resilient their system has been given recent weather events over there.
You live somewhere humid? Curious how these work in a desert like Phoenix... Seems like it wouldn't that hard to dehumidify water in a place that's ultra humid right?
That's a total of 725 gallons, which would have cost a TOTAL of $1.80 from your local water company! The costco pallet is 2x more expensive, because it's delivered. If you buy it from the store, it's 1/2 the price. The thing you actually have to test for is contaminants and bacteria, as that's what's floating around in the air that you're dehumidifying, not anything that would be testable with a strip. You're either a shill for their company, or you're trying to justify the worst purchase of your life because people are laughing at you. Sir. Poor, rural communities, 1. Do not have the $$ to pay for Source, 2. Do not have the power to run Source, 3. Even if they did, they'd spend hundreds of times more money on powering them, than just having water trucked in, and 4. Deserts have no humidity in the air, therefore, you will spend even more money, sucking even less water, out of the dry desert air. This is a scam, and shame on you for promoting it.
Nope. Building the water treatment plant and pipes so you can have a local water company will cost millions. Delivering water is not cost effective either because you do not need just one pallet, you need loads of them every day for the rest of forever. The panels work on sunlight, they do not need external power and even if they did, delivering water is massively more expensive than the few tens of watts of electricity they run on. They were tested in a desert and proven to work in as little as 10% humidity. They also clean the water so bacteria is less of an issue than in tap water with miles of pipes. You sound very much like one of those lobbyists and short sellers trying to claim that Tesla electric vehicles will never work and the company will go bankrupt any day now, but those people at least had a valid reason to try spreading their fake news.
Aldi's has water for around $0.14 a bottle, at that price you would be coming out ahead about $150 a year in savings, that's minus the $500 a year for your cost, so all in all it's saving you around $2250 over 15 years and that's assuming the price of bottle water doesn't go up, that's not a bad investment if you drink/use a lot of water
I frankly have not given that much thought to drinking water since I have access to a good source through the public system where I live. However, because I’m located close to the San Andreas Fault I have been giving more thought recently to emergency earthquake preparedness and what might happen if the normal delivery of water to my home were disrupted. I found your overview of alternatives informative.
These would be a great albeit temporary solution here in Canada to many a First Nations community as you said... Despite being water rich, we are generally clean water poor for the very same reason Americans are... Where I live? Oil & Gas contamination is the #1 spoiler of water especially in the fracking era... Definitely checking out that water pitcher since I already use a Brita but it suffers from many a problem! Keep up the good work!
Curious about the SOURCE technology. I understand that it pulls water out of the air to make potable water but HOW does it do that? Did you talk about the technology and I missed it? I'm curious to understand how it works.
This is a trivial thing people learn in school. Take water with high humidity, cool it, the water will condense on the cool parts. Done. Cold air can not hold as much water. Read up on the Dew point (where water condenses out of the air).
I have to be honest - this machine's much better for agrovoltaic systems (outdoor or indoor, vertical farms) than residential areas - where most of our water's used or look for efficiency.
Low pH can be an issue, a slightly alkaline pH is advantageous to health. A nice mountain spring water would have higher then normal mineral content (good minerals), higher pH (normally) and far superior health wise to pure water. Pure demineralized water, while exceptionally sterile, is aggressive at stripping minerals / metals from whatever it touches (water doesn't like to be alone) and high end filter systems typically re-mineralize after purifying, for taste / health and equipment longevity. Studies have shown that an acidic body can promote cancer and we didn't evolve in a sterile environment.
These panels don’t really seem ideal for someone who has access to clean water already. You could throw a reverse osmosis system under your sink for a couple hundred bucks and get the same result. In fact I'm really not sure who they’re intended for. If you live off grid it would likely be cheaper to just dig a well. Who are these actually marketed toward?
My town continually fails in its water tests and we have had numerous "boil your water" bulletins and that is the reason we installed a reverse osmosis system. Thank you for this video as it was very interesting. I was surprised though that you didn't mention anything about how bad for the environment all those empty water bottles are.
Although the SOURCE system seems expensive up front, it stamps out all the plastic waste from those who buy bottled water AND it pays for itself over time. I don't see the noise from them as a problem, it's a low amplitude innocuous sound, which could easily be drowned out by winds. If the fan noise is intrusive, then the fan design needs further development. More attention should be put into decoupling/tuning the roof mounting system & perhaps use flexi-rubber tube couplings for the conduit. My criticism of the Larq is that it's based on a bi-monthly subscription costing $26, sure it's delivered free of charge, but they're delivered by not so environmentally friendly delivery vans.
If this technology was ever used in a large scale, I wonder how it would affect local rain patterns. Would it end up being a case of solving one problem and creating another
What was the ph number reported on Source water strip? I am assuming this is after the remineralization process. How long had the mineralizing cartridges been in use before your test? I would speculate that the "citrusy" taste is from the cartridges acidifying the water as part of the mineralization process.
a question about the Hydropanel a simple question... why compare this water cost with store bought expensive water, why not compare with store bought cheap water that is sold for about 13c per bottle ?? Are you being paid to promote this system ??
I've done a quick calculation for the bottled water I buy from Amazon here in Dubai, and it works out at 7 US Cents per 500ml including delivery (comes in 1.5 litre bottles). I used to have a restaurant which due to the location we had to run 2 dehumidifiers through the winter and they would collect about 6-8 liters per day but there is no way on earth you ever catch me drinking the collected water. You haven't factored in the lost opportunity cost of using the solar panel on your roof to power other household products. Extracting water from air is a very inefficient process, I guess you've already sunk the money into the system so it's too late now but have you been scammed? I think the answer is yes I'm afraid.
It buys you time and perhaps even your survival when -- not if -- drinkable water becomes more rare and therefore also more expensive (meaning, higher than the current gentle prices you are using for your current figures). It would be primarily used for an emergency system you have rather than a full replacement for thirsty patrons.
Little overly focused on the filtration side. Drop the cost 80% and could be a viable off-grid solution rather than deal with getting a bore sunk. Interesting anyway
Someone's probably already said this but I feel the main benefit of solar is power when there is none and the benefit of this would be water when there is none .
Yeah this didn't sit well with me either. Like imagine if his neighbour works from home and he turns this thing to max every day. You should do to your neighbour as you would like done to you.
Guys, the idea for this is more for places with little access to drinking water. Although sadly, this is not going to be installed in those places for free
I can see this making sense in San Diego. When I visited, I noticed that it has some pretty terribly tasting tap water. But the proper price comparison isn't water bottles, but those 5 gallon water dispenser bottles from Costco.
Watch out for drinkimng large amounts of distilled water. Studies show it actually leaches minerals from your body as it tries to recalcify. Research it.
$0.18 per liter is insanely expensive. The comparison to bottled water is terrible, no "smart shopper" should be buying bottled water of any kind. Tap water is just as clean or cleaner.
What about in area with lower air quality? How big it affects he water cleanliness Like on most industrial places near seaside Since commonly clean water on large amount on there are desalinated water or delivered with trucks
Problem with the water generators is there are no minerals so there is no taste. Pure water is nasty to drink with no natural minerals. Water generators are basically distilled water
The alkalinity is where the better-tasting waters, such as the best spring waters, get their flavor. The Source water must be very bland, being essentially distilled water, no?
Israel I think was the first people to try this technology. Unfortunately here in Arizona this would only work during monsoon season when we have high humidity levels. 😂
7.5 litres per day doesn’t sound like much for a $6000 investment. My dehumidifier in Scotland costs £170, and can extract 3 litres of water per 8 hour period at 21 degrees C in a 50% RH environment. All that for the princely cost of 175 Watts.
In guessing coastal California has a higher humidity than my numbers in summer time.
As well as costing money, it also costs roof space that could otherwise be taken up by more solar panels.
So what consideration am I missing here?
So to sum up, a very noisy system that costs about $6,500 will give you a little less than 2 gallons of water. Is that enough water to drink, cook with and clean clothes with?
If you're building in the desert or off grid, this is awesome.
We are going through a sever drought here in the northeastern part of Mexico, very interestingly, I got an add and seemed too good to be true, and it doesn't seem magical, but facing the situation we're going through with water scarcity and reservoirs almost empty, I believe I would be willing to get one of these, if I had the money.
Just collect the condensate from your air conditioner.
U could just pour contaminated water in a terracotta pot and it will seep through as clean drinking water. Another problem with using a dehumidifier or air conditioner is it needs lots of power for it’s peltier disk which is what condenses air, or it uses peltier disks AND coolant. U could mimic this by getting a piece of plexiglass glass over a plastic tub with a drain plug.
Just tried it and it was yucky. I don’t think this is good advice
You have to filter it.
@@wedemboyz try buying a new terracotta pot lol it does in fact work, water filters use terracotta all the time in them
@@Trefuckor963 Well why didn't you just say that in the first place!? Air had been on a lot lately. So much water wasted:{
For me, i think source is the best solution since you are getting clean water from air. And the beauty part of it,is integrated with a solar panel,thus sufficient.
I installed two panels at my home in Tucson, AZ. The installation team was fantastic - very professional, timely, and they did quality work. The panels are not noisy - this video gives the impression that they are loud. In my opinion, they are not loud at all. Ours running at full power cannot even be heard from the ground level (they are installed on my roof). We have the latest models, and they may be quieter than older models. But, ours are very quiet and produce no discernible noise from ground level. They work beautifully, providing quality, fresh and delicious drinking water to our home. I highly recommend them.
I have tested many different water bottes by parts per million. I can't tell what the parts are, but Aquafina tested as the cleanest water for me. It was the only water that showed zero ppm. Their filtration is top notch. It is a little more pricey than some of the other waters but it's the only water I will drink.
The unfortunate thing is that where water is scarce usually the air humidity is also low and these systems work less efficiently but otherwise a cool system.
Yea, I would think about getting this but I live in a low humidity region.
Same here…I live in Arizona and with the exception of our monsoon season the humidity is just too low. Might not even get one liter per day if that. I really do think our region is going to need to figure out a way to desalinate massive quantities of sea water in the decades to come.
Water is scarce in many areas with high humidity, it does not mean regular rains happen. And the panels were tested to work as advertised in ~10% humidity, that is not a problem.
The only issue is the cost, a number of places with no clean water nearby already use air capture to provide their drinking water, but they do that by building a frame with a net and putting a bucket under it, which costs maybe $100 to produce same amount of water as a $3000 panel.
@@AnalystPrime What does “work as advertised actually mean at a 10% or less humidity level? Would that be milliliters worth of water each day?
@@jrf3307 More like half a gallon, though some quotes claim double that. The amount also depends on how much air can be sucked in by the fans, so maybe they were using the silent mode? Incidentally, the highest output I have seen mentioned was only little over two gallons per day; while some people keep claiming the panels are an AC or dehumidifier, the way it actually works is there is a spongy material that absorbs water(and only water) on its own and releases it to the storage tank when the material is heated up. When the "sponge" is full it cannot absorb more water even if the air humidity is high.
Also, in cloudy weather the solar panel might not charge the battery properly so there isn't enough electricity to keep operating all night. I have said this before and I say it again: While it is great the panels are able to work without needing extra infrastructure, they should have added a way to use an external power supply.
I think that the information is partially skewed. He lives in San Diego so he's by the ocean which means the relative humidity (R.H.) level around the city is sufficient enough to provide the amount of water he gets throughout the year and we can all assume that if the R.H. is at 10% that he's going to be getting a whole lot less. Personally, in my opinion, it's an overpriced (solar powered) dehumidifier. They should have used ceramic bearings in those fans to bring some of that noise level down because they really remind me that whining sound when you walk into a room full of data servers.
Here we can get lab tests for water. Mainly to see if wells and pipes are okay. Those reports include radioactive material and microbes. We have Radon in our soil so it is real issue for some.
Would be nice to see such lab test for water produced from air with that system.
Those panels seem very nice for your climate and have their uses.
How does it work during Fire season? When there are smokes in the air? Does it produce clean drinking water?
What kind of flat roof do you have? And do you paint or put what kind of sealant to prevent leaks?
Great video, btw.
you filter the water with mini portable water filtration system dumb ass, im only 12 years old and know that...
What are the decibels when comparing the noise of normal mode and quiet mode?
Why not Drink your tap water if its as clean as fiji? Maybe compare prices of tap water against your hydropanels would be a fair comparison!
Watch the video. He explains the best use for this system. To quote him: “there are cheaper better solutions”
Are you not worried about bacteria growing in the system? Given that is probably not too cold on your roof it could be something that is able to grow inside the plumbing there.
It has UV light going into it and sensors to monitor 24/7
I can also see this being used during environmental disasters/emergencies when water systems becomes compromised. Great video as always! I'm a huge fan of your data driven content
Reverse osmosis systems can do the same, for much less money and bulk. So long as there is running water of some kind. Source's only selling point is not requiring a water source at all. But I can't see many situations where that applies - except maybe providing drinking water and hand washing on remote hiking trails.
If you want to learn more check out their case studies here - www.source.co/resources/case-studies/
As bad as many city waters are like flint Michigan and many old city building plus many under ground systems are now being polluted around military bases from stuff that has been buried since the 50’s
GoSun also makes a similar product that delivers up to 200 gallons/day to the entire house (drinking, laundry, showers, etc.) for $45K, and it doesn’t have to sit on your roof.
@@markmuir7338 When there is a massive flooding, the water supply can be severely contaminated even with stuff from dead animals. No water sources can be trusted in such situations and this might actually be the more reliable in such situations.
In our situation our primary home is near a city well (in the AZ desert) and water is filtered before getting to the house but installed a whole home filtration system that goes through 2 large tanks (softener and filtration system but doesn't involve salt) in the garage plus a particle filter prior to the tanks and a UV filter after the tanks. Under the kitchen sink is another 5 filters system (one being membrane filter). Then after that there is a split to the main fridge where there is an additional filter for the ice. So, our ice cubes have been through 10 filters and the water from the kitchen tap has been through 9 filters and when testing it against bottled water it has lower ppm than the bottled water. I think the whole home water filtration system ran around $5k and under sink filter ran another $1k. Changing filters costs about $200/yr. The water in the showers doesn't scale anymore and feels much softer and been purified to be very clean drinking water. We fill up gallons from the kitchen tap and have not bought any bottled water in years. As the well is only 2 blocks away not really worried about any issues about it as I've checked the hydrology maps in the area and water from wells in our area have all shown no water quality issues. South of us in Phoenix the wells start showing various toxic elements and various quality issues. Water however is a major concern for those living in AZ that don't have well water access.
The website says the panels are designed to last 10 years, so the 15 year warranty is questionable. I see this system more for off grid living or where there is no water supply.
I’m interested though, hope they can bring the price down a lil more.
In summary, if you're reading this comment, get a filter for your tap water. It just takes till 9:00 for him to get to that point. You'll save tons of money with filtered tap water over source. And it'll be more convenient.
I wonder if air quality will impact water quality, eg bush fire, dust from industrial or mining activity
There is a location in my state that's below sea level and has more backwater channels than land. Getting drinkig water supply to the people living in those small river islands have been an unsolved problem to this day. Even if we get too monsoons, these people cannot build huge tanks in small islands for every household to save all the water they need for the whole year just from rainwater harvesting. They literally live surrounded by water but don't have public water supply. This would actually be perfect for those homes and with the high humidity levels here, they might even get enough water other utilities as well.
Hey Ben, Did you test the Larq water after it had gone through its filters? Just wondering how it stacked up. Cheers
No, I don't know if the tests I have would show much difference in this case
x2, Ben! Would love to see Larq results vs unfiltered tap.
Yeah... Missed opportunity.
I wonder how efficient they would be in places that would make sence to have this units, like deserts where the humidity in the air is very low ?? 🤔 they are kinda just giant dehumidifiers with a filtration system, and In places with enough humidity would it make more sence just to built a well and add the necessary filtration systems ?
they say above 10% and it can work. They're based in the Sonoran Desert
@@eone2345 You can get filtrations systems for your well, which will make sure it's always clean and safe.
@@eone2345 Good point/s!
@@eone2345 I live in a similar situation and we only use our well water for watering plants. This could be a good solution for homes high humidity areas who doesn't have space for a giant rainwater harvesting tank. Or it could be used for during summer and winter, along with a smaller rainwater tank.
There is a place below sea level in my state which has more backwater canals than land and getting water to homes in these tiny river islands are a huge conundrum....This fits the bill perfectly for them.
"Giant dehumidifiers with a filtration system" are EXACTLY what these panels are.
Thank you so much Ben for your in depth video on the hydro panels. Your video has helped me I was looking for the Pros & Cons about buying this system myself, as they are quite expensive. Thanks again.
Sillyness. Solar powered dehumidifier. Even in the near optimal environment of San Diego (~70F & 70%RH) each unit makes ~1gallon/day. You can donate them to places that need them, but its the least cost effective way to bring them water. "Drop 50 of them in the middle of nowhere" haha. Find a place where you couldn't build some sort of well/rain collection system for $150,000 that outputs a tiny 50gallon/day.
I understand that these are specific to creating water but how different is this to just powering a humidifier with a solar panel and then running it through a filter
Thats the neat part, it literally isnt.
Because thats all it does.
Very nice man
I wached the first video about this two years ago and now this is perfect evidence that it really works. Good science man.
7.5 liters/day amounts to just over 601 gallons/year. 83¢/gal is pretty high in my opinion, I refill my water for 35¢/gal.
I think it’s hard to be fair/objective in a sponsored video.
No. It's 723.650859 US gallons per year. Which would be 69 cents a gallon. But what he actually said was about 18 cents a gallon. So no one seems to be able to do basic math anymore.
@@JamesNewton No. It's 723.17331375 US gallons per year. ( 7.5 x 365 x 0.2641729 ) lol, just trollin. But on another note, this is for the first 15 years under warranty.... well, say these things just so happen to break on year 14 (ya know, by "chance") and you get a new set of the newest model... over a decade from now.... then you will probably get another 15 years (or more) out of them... but only $100 a year for maintenance.... or free if you don't mind the bad taste or it is a zombie apocalypse.
7.5 liters per day is 723 gallons per year. So at $500 a year, that is 69 cents a gallon. About 2 gallons a day. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women. So this is enough drinking water for 2 people, or maybe a couple and a kid.
Thanks for the review. Well done. Just one comment , and I know you did not say this, but alkalinity is really not a concern at all unless the water is causticly acidic or alkaline which would be almost impossible. A lot of water companies are promoting "Alkaline Water" as a health benefit but there is absolutely no evidence that its healthier to drink Alkaline water nor does it do anything to prevent cancer as is sometimes claimed. Our kidneys are exquisitely evolved to control our body's pH so if you drink something that is more Alkaline than your natural pH the kidneys (and some other buffering systems in the body) rapidly work to correct that and neutralize the effects. If anyone sees the low alkalinity of the Hydropanel water as an issue I just want to be clear that its not. I don't work for Hydropanel or have any relationship. I'm just a physician who prefers that people make decisions based on science rather than pseudoscience and this whole Alkaline water thing is complete pseudoscience. Great review though
Is it common to buy regular drinking water on bottle in the US?
I live in Sweden, and I think it’s very rare to buy bottled still water.
Very common yes
As a foreigner who lives in USA (Florida to be exact), it is indeed weird to see people buying bottled water. Where I’m from people just use filters, cheaper and more sustainable than bottled water
As a resident of Dubai I can tell you we get drinking water and general water für kitchen use every couple of weeks. This is really dependent where you live on this planet.
Thanks Ben. A very thorough analysis.
In places with access to running water, reverse osmosis is a very cost effective way to get exactly the same quality of water out as Source. That's why so many homes have them.
I'm struggling to see where Source makes sense. Water output is strongly affected by humidity in the air. In places dryer than San Diego you'll get even less water out. Maybe it makes sense on remote trails for hikers to fill their bottle or wash their hands (think airplane toilet faucets). But even in disaster zones, it would be cheaper and easier to just fly in bottled water.
Keep watching...
Dubai. 50++++% humidity, ground water is salty. Independent unit, capex, no running costs for electricity. Water from Air is a big thing here. Heck, there is a farm here doing that with those unit. 1.5 MILLION liter - per day.
How's the mold generation?
Hi Ben,
Great video. Thanks for the number analysis. Makes sense.
May I ask one quick question?
What's the average humidity at where you live?
Get past the initial purchase of technology that yields 15 gallons of clean drinking water daily is a phenomenal quality of life improvement for Americans. If you drink 64 ounces of water daily & use 1/2 to 1 gallon daily for camping-style showers you're still left with 13.50 gallons of water for storage, watering plants, cooking, watering pets, etc. A camping-style shower involves getting your body wet, then turning off the water, next you lather up all over your body, then turn on the water again to rinse off.
Another variation of that is using shower chairs and a 1 gallon water cooler (Igloo or Coleman for example). Using a battery powered water pump attached to a hose and handheld flow control nozzle you can have the essence of a shower with a sprayer nozzle. It can take longer but if you're not in a rush what does it matter? To heat 32 ounces of water use your microwave oven to heat the water for 3 minutes per batch. Four batches later (12 minutes) you'll have a gallon of hot water. In an insulated water cooler it will hold the heat for up to 3 hours.
While not the best solution for certain families or individuals you can save a bunch of money on heating your water doing it this way.
Thanks for the cost rundown. You forgot to mention the price of the Larq system.
About $168 SRP or $139 directly from Larq for the pitcher or $99 for the self cleaning portable bottle or $45 for the filtration on the go bottle…
As a french person and drinker of water in bottle. I can see the difference between many sources of water and distilled water with add mineral taste flat.
If you buy a deshumificator to dry your clothes, it will consume not more electricity because you don't used a dryer. and you have a high quantity of water
That was a great review, one of the best, and you even cover the install. But as a Scot has pointed out below in the comments his dehumidifier does just as gooder job at a far less cost, even if you have to add minerals and second filtering system.
I have been in HVAC for over 30 years. It would be more efficient to do the same thing with a Heatpump and have that same energy provide more than one purpose. You could be using that energy and capturing it to heat water, space in your home, refrigeration or cooling, there are many ways. I am also a Solar guy that has worked on and designed systems for years. It is great that people are thinking outside the box but there is still a lot more potential than what they sold you or you purchased. There is also the filtration and purifying side of it but you know that already. 😉
How can this be done using a heat pump?
@@ladyjjj A heat pump can both refrigerate and dump heat at the same time. While in air-conditioning mode you pull heat out of the air and the air and moisture that comes in contact with the exchanger cools and condenses the moisture or humidity out of the air. The condensed moisture collects and runs out the drain pan into whatever container you want. The Heat that is extracted can be used somewhere else if you wanted to or just exhausted back out into the air.
The advantage of the Heat pump over a standard air conditioner is the ability to enter a defrost cycle if and when needed.
It would amaze you to see the actual amount that comes out in a 24 hr period.
You simply need to sterilize or filter the water you collect.
The heat that is discharged could be dumped into a water heater, green house, compost pile, thermal battery to pull heat off of at night when the outside temp falls, whatever. There are many opportunities and I am sure that it would cost less and provide more bang for your buck.
In the heat mode side of a Heat pump it is 300% efficient. In the cooling side it is not as efficient.
But HOW does it work? You only point to the panel sections. How do you get hot humid air to give up the juice? The last I checked, hot air has an affinity for water. Is there a cooling unit to condense water vapor or some sort of membrane to “filter” the water out? Perhaps a desiccant?
Trivial basic school physics. YOU COOL IT. Or, better, you run the air over a cool surface. Go to a number of places in the world and you can see water running down windows (with air conditioning behind them).
Love your videos Ben! Will you be doing an annual review of your solar system soon?
Slightly off topic, the book The Sustainable House is about a renovation of a suburban house in Sydney. They "rain harvested" 100%(?) of their water, if I remember correctly. I do remember they got reduced rates (land tax) because they proved they were disconnected from municipal services. Wonder how resilient their system has been given recent weather events over there.
You live somewhere humid? Curious how these work in a desert like Phoenix... Seems like it wouldn't that hard to dehumidify water in a place that's ultra humid right?
If we take the moisture out of the atmosphere are we not at risk of dehydrating the planet?
2 things
Did they update a new version to be more quiet !!
Second can you run power during the night so It could keep making water ..!!
Nope, but I've got a different solution coming in a new video next year. Stay tuned!
That's a total of 725 gallons, which would have cost a TOTAL of $1.80 from your local water company!
The costco pallet is 2x more expensive, because it's delivered. If you buy it from the store, it's 1/2 the price.
The thing you actually have to test for is contaminants and bacteria, as that's what's floating around in the air that you're dehumidifying, not anything that would be testable with a strip.
You're either a shill for their company, or you're trying to justify the worst purchase of your life because people are laughing at you. Sir.
Poor, rural communities, 1. Do not have the $$ to pay for Source, 2. Do not have the power to run Source, 3. Even if they did, they'd spend hundreds of times more money on powering them, than just having water trucked in, and 4. Deserts have no humidity in the air, therefore, you will spend even more money, sucking even less water, out of the dry desert air. This is a scam, and shame on you for promoting it.
Based
Nope. Building the water treatment plant and pipes so you can have a local water company will cost millions. Delivering water is not cost effective either because you do not need just one pallet, you need loads of them every day for the rest of forever.
The panels work on sunlight, they do not need external power and even if they did, delivering water is massively more expensive than the few tens of watts of electricity they run on. They were tested in a desert and proven to work in as little as 10% humidity. They also clean the water so bacteria is less of an issue than in tap water with miles of pipes.
You sound very much like one of those lobbyists and short sellers trying to claim that Tesla electric vehicles will never work and the company will go bankrupt any day now, but those people at least had a valid reason to try spreading their fake news.
Aldi's has water for around $0.14 a bottle, at that price you would be coming out ahead about $150 a year in savings, that's minus the $500 a year for your cost, so all in all it's saving you around $2250 over 15 years and that's assuming the price of bottle water doesn't go up, that's not a bad investment if you drink/use a lot of water
7.5 Liters a day may not sound like alot but that turns to 723.170993 gallons a year so it adds up quite a bit.
I frankly have not given that much thought to drinking water since I have access to a good source through the public system where I live. However, because I’m located close to the San Andreas Fault I have been giving more thought recently to emergency earthquake preparedness and what might happen if the normal delivery of water to my home were disrupted. I found your overview of alternatives informative.
It definitely could help with climate resiliency
These would be a great albeit temporary solution here in Canada to many a First Nations community as you said... Despite being water rich, we are generally clean water poor for the very same reason Americans are... Where I live? Oil & Gas contamination is the #1 spoiler of water especially in the fracking era... Definitely checking out that water pitcher since I already use a Brita but it suffers from many a problem! Keep up the good work!
Curious about the SOURCE technology. I understand that it pulls water out of the air to make potable water but HOW does it do that? Did you talk about the technology and I missed it? I'm curious to understand how it works.
This is a trivial thing people learn in school. Take water with high humidity, cool it, the water will condense on the cool parts. Done. Cold air can not hold as much water. Read up on the Dew point (where water condenses out of the air).
I have to be honest - this machine's much better for agrovoltaic systems (outdoor or indoor, vertical farms) than residential areas - where most of our water's used or look for efficiency.
Low pH can be an issue, a slightly alkaline pH is advantageous to health. A nice mountain spring water would have higher then normal mineral content (good minerals), higher pH (normally) and far superior health wise to pure water. Pure demineralized water, while exceptionally sterile, is aggressive at stripping minerals / metals from whatever it touches (water doesn't like to be alone) and high end filter systems typically re-mineralize after purifying, for taste / health and equipment longevity. Studies have shown that an acidic body can promote cancer and we didn't evolve in a sterile environment.
These panels don’t really seem ideal for someone who has access to clean water already. You could throw a reverse osmosis system under your sink for a couple hundred bucks and get the same result. In fact I'm really not sure who they’re intended for. If you live off grid it would likely be cheaper to just dig a well. Who are these actually marketed toward?
These would be beneficial in areas where it is to deep drill, certain areas it’s not feasible like on the Navajo Land
@@scotthall1381 the Navajo nation is mostly desert. Would these even work in a place like that?
Yep - www.source.co/resources/case-studies/source-hydropanels-bring-water-to-the-navajo-nation/
My town continually fails in its water tests and we have had numerous "boil your water" bulletins and that is the reason we installed a reverse osmosis system. Thank you for this video as it was very interesting. I was surprised though that you didn't mention anything about how bad for the environment all those empty water bottles are.
Fascinating tech, never realised it even existed.
Although the SOURCE system seems expensive up front, it stamps out all the plastic waste from those who buy bottled water AND it pays for itself over time.
I don't see the noise from them as a problem, it's a low amplitude innocuous sound, which could easily be drowned out by winds. If the fan noise is intrusive, then the fan design needs further development. More attention should be put into decoupling/tuning the roof mounting system & perhaps use flexi-rubber tube couplings for the conduit.
My criticism of the Larq is that it's based on a bi-monthly subscription costing $26, sure it's delivered free of charge, but they're delivered by not so environmentally friendly delivery vans.
If this technology was ever used in a large scale, I wonder how it would affect local rain patterns. Would it end up being a case of solving one problem and creating another
Do they have a battery so that they can run 24/7?
The best tasting tap water I've had was in Seattle. It was like drinking high quality bottled water.
Portland water also is delicious. Reason is because these cities have pristine reservoirs up in the mountains. Pure rain water, no wells involved.
Question the lark system can you use it to filter river water or muddy water
They have a different water bottle that has a straw for those kind of situations, like if you're hiking or something
What was the ph number reported on Source water strip? I am assuming this is after the remineralization process. How long had the mineralizing cartridges been in use before your test? I would speculate that the "citrusy" taste is from the cartridges acidifying the water as part of the mineralization process.
Why you cut the footage when you were dipping the test in the water you got from de device?
where can i buy this system
a question about the Hydropanel
a simple question... why compare this water cost with store bought expensive water,
why not compare with store bought cheap water that is sold for about 13c per bottle ??
Are you being paid to promote this system ??
I've done a quick calculation for the bottled water I buy from Amazon here in Dubai, and it works out at 7 US Cents per 500ml including delivery (comes in 1.5 litre bottles).
I used to have a restaurant which due to the location we had to run 2 dehumidifiers through the winter and they would collect about 6-8 liters per day but there is no way on earth you ever catch me drinking the collected water.
You haven't factored in the lost opportunity cost of using the solar panel on your roof to power other household products.
Extracting water from air is a very inefficient process, I guess you've already sunk the money into the system so it's too late now but have you been scammed? I think the answer is yes I'm afraid.
It buys you time and perhaps even your survival when -- not if -- drinkable water becomes more rare and therefore also more expensive (meaning, higher than the current gentle prices you are using for your current figures). It would be primarily used for an emergency system you have rather than a full replacement for thirsty patrons.
Little overly focused on the filtration side.
Drop the cost 80% and could be a viable off-grid solution rather than deal with getting a bore sunk.
Interesting anyway
How humidity have in that area?
Someone's probably already said this but I feel the main benefit of solar is power when there is none and the benefit of this would be water when there is none .
How much do they weigh?
Wouldn't this make the air dryer for everyone down wind?
6000$ for 2 dehumidifiers and a 1 normal sized solar panel. seems like a good deal lol
Tap Water and Fiji Water are the same and your solar water is very bad to drink looks like.
what is the name of the water tester strips? Wheredid you get them? Please post to my message. Thanks!
"It can be quite loud for the neigbours, that is their problem" Srsly? Their problem? When it is on YOUR roof? Wow, just how patronizing can u get?
Yeah this didn't sit well with me either. Like imagine if his neighbour works from home and he turns this thing to max every day.
You should do to your neighbour as you would like done to you.
Sarcasm guys…
Didn't this idea come from Moses West the person who invented the water machine because of the Flint Michigan Water Crisis
Pretty sure the dehumidifier existed before 2014
This would pay back much quicker in a tropical region as you have both plentiful sun and humid air there.
Does it still collect electricity or only collect water?
It's still very expensive. Our water bill is around $130 every 3 months
0:39 my English is weak. that is their problem means we don't care if they are annoyed?
This is for drinking water only. Not showers. Too bad you can't get more water to use it for both a shower and for drinking water.
Would these work in Canada
in the warmer months
you did NOT talk about what the maintenance involved were. I thought Hydropanel was a great solution for remote off grid situations.
Guys, the idea for this is more for places with little access to drinking water. Although sadly, this is not going to be installed in those places for free
I can see this making sense in San Diego. When I visited, I noticed that it has some pretty terribly tasting tap water. But the proper price comparison isn't water bottles, but those 5 gallon water dispenser bottles from Costco.
Did you really say that being noisy is your neighbor's problem?
Sarcasm...
@@BenSullinsOfficial Oh good.
My recollection is that these units purposefully mineralized their output. That put me off since I buy distilled water.
Correct, there is a mineral pack they use under the sink to add the basics
Watch out for drinkimng large amounts of distilled water. Studies show it actually leaches minerals from your body as it tries to recalcify. Research it.
Just add minerals to taste and it will bring up the ph and add some extra added benefits
$0.18 per liter is insanely expensive. The comparison to bottled water is terrible, no "smart shopper" should be buying bottled water of any kind. Tap water is just as clean or cleaner.
Those arms are huge dude! 💪🏻
What about in area with lower air quality?
How big it affects he water cleanliness
Like on most industrial places near seaside
Since commonly clean water on large amount on there are desalinated water or delivered with trucks
Problem with the water generators is there are no minerals so there is no taste. Pure water is nasty to drink with no natural minerals. Water generators are basically distilled water
Baffles can be made to reduce the noise
Can these make enough water in Az to use for hydrophobics?
Are you not able to drink your tap water?
The alkalinity is where the better-tasting waters, such as the best spring waters, get their flavor. The Source water must be very bland, being essentially distilled water, no?
Israel I think was the first people to try this technology. Unfortunately here in Arizona this would only work during monsoon season when we have high humidity levels. 😂
The company is based on Tempe
Why not just filter tap water, if you want to be specific about containments get an RO/DI system instead
Watch the entire video. He explains exactly who this is appropriate for.
@@jmacd8817 People who buy Brita filters but want to pay more for the same amount of filtration
What a great innovation!