Water-From-Air Bottle-Filling Bicycle System

Austrian Designer's System, Fontus, Attaches to Bicycle Frame and, in Hot and Humid Areas, Can Produce About Half a Liter an Hour

Retezár's"Fontus" system, which is competing for aJames Dyson Award, is a sleek, two-piece contraption that attaches to a bike's frame. When a cycle is in motion, air is funneled into the top holster and distributed over a "condensing structure." A solar-powered cooling element then turns it into moisture that drips down a pipe into a detachable water bottle.

Under hot and humid conditions, "Fontus" can allegedly produce about 17 ounces of agua , just about enough to sustain a sweaty cyclist. But Retezár sees broader uses for his machine, wanting to put it to use in regions where fresh water is scarce. Those places are shown inside the circles on this map, which also shows in darker red where meteorological conditions make the device most efficient:

Here's the designer explaining his two-pronged plan for "Fontus":

Fontus can be applied in two different areas. Firstly, it may be interpreted as a sporty bicycle accessory. Useful on long bike tours, the constant search for freshwater sources such as rivers and gas stations can cease to be an issue since the bottle automatically fills itself up. Secondly, it might be a clever way of acquiring freshwater in regions of the world where groundwater is scarce but humidity is high. Experiments suggest that the bottle could harvest around 0.5 L water in one hour's time in regions with high temperature and humidity values.

Source: The City Lab

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