Modern-day alchemy

Wired.com has an article up regarding a new device (just contracted for purchase by the US government) that can extract clean potable water out of thin air. It is a 20-foot machine made by Aqua Sciences that requires only 14% humidity to put out water -- up to 500 gallons per day -- and it does so without major by-products or wastes. Wow.

Here's food for thought, though:

"It seems like it's a cheaper alternative to trucking in bottled water, which has a shelf life," said Rowe, who described himself as a fiscal hawk.

Once deployed, the machines could reduce the cost of logistical support for supplying water to the troops in Iraq by billions of dollars, said Stuart Roy, spokesman of the DCI Group, Aqua Sciences' public affairs firm.

The cost to transport water by C-17 cargo planes, then truck it to the troops, runs $30 a gallon. The cost, including the machines from Aqua Sciences, will be reduced to 30 cents a gallon, Roy said.

(from the Wired.com article)

Mel's comment: so what would happen if, instead of trucking in water or machines, we just dug wells that could be used later? While definitely not practical everywhere, what a difference it could make in terms of the legacy that is left once we finally are gone from Iraq.