Business & Tech

East Bay Business Makes Water From Thin Air -- Literally!

A Walnut Creek woman says the products are drought-busters.

The public does not have to rely on outside sources for water, according to Heather Jepsen of Walnut Creek.

Jepsen is operations manager for EcoloBlue, Inc., a company that sells an array of "atmospheric water generators" for homes and businesses that claim to make pure drinking water from the air. 

"Imagine a glass of ice water on a warm day, how condensation accumulates on the outside," that's the science behind the products, Jepsen said.

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"The basics of the machine are that it draws in air with a fan, then condenses it ... That condensation drips into a collection tank. It then pumps through carbon and reverse osmosis filters to a holding tank that contains UV light, three total in the system," Jepsen said.

And, voila! You have water!

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Residential machines run about $1,300 and up and can create up to 8 gallons of water a day, when humidity in the air is about 70 percent, Jepsen said. Some industrial models can create up to 66 to 2,600 gallons a day.

"You can heat or cool the water to your preference, just like a water cooler, she said. "The main difference is that you do not need to have water delivered, or hook up to a municipal water line."

Jepsen adds: "While this technology has been around for a very long time, it seems to be a little known one."

EcoloBlue will be attending the Association of California Water Agencies 2014 Spring Conference & Exhibition in Monterey on May 6-8, and Jepsen writes a company blog here: ecoloblueblog.com.

The company's new "A.C.E. Container" was designed for global emergencies, with an atmospheric water generator and a built-in "bottling plant," that can be transported to disaster locations, said Jepsen, who runs the local EcoloBlue distribution operation from warehouses in Pacheco.

For more information, go to EcoloBlue's web site here or its Facebook page here.


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