Keywords: fresh water production tropical temperate barge thermocline aerial system
Freshwater supplies are gradually being depleted worldwide, due to misuse, overcrowding or a form of intensive agriculture. Rudimentary means are sometimes used by poor and isolated populations in desert areas. In richer countries, artificial water reserves are set up as well as production techniques allowing the production of fresh water from sea water. These techniques require particularly expensive installations and dissipate a large amount of energy.
Tropical seas
Means that consume less energy can be implemented taking into account the enormous quantity of water contained in the air in the form of water vapour or very fine particles of water. This amount of water is all the more important as the air temperature is high and the relative humidity is close to the saturation point. The atmosphere of tropical regions is likely to provide very large quantities of water, more particularly, on the surface of the ocean or at the seashore. A frame of a very large size fitted with condensing means facing the wind could be used to collect water.
Image from
INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY – Roger Williams University
Generally ocean temperatures range from about -2o to 30o C. The warmest water tends to be surface water in low latitude regions, while the surface water at the poles is obviously much colder. Note that at equivalent latitudes, water on the eastern side of the ocean basins is colder than the water on the western side. This has to do with the pattern of surface currents.
https://rwu.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/7/2017/01/figure6.2.1-1.png
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For more details on water production from tropical seas:
http://yvcharron.com/index.php/tropical-seas/
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Taking into account all the parameters likely to produce large amounts of water through condensation: temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity, it will be sometimes necessary to make a compromise between these three parameters. In some areas, optimal water production may be obtained in a tropical region where the humidity and temperature will be decisive, although the wind velocity will not be very important. In other cases, it will be necessary to move slightly away from the equator and the tropical regions in order to obtain stronger winds at the expense of a slight drop in temperature or relative humidity.
A device for condensing water vapour in tropical seas is described in the section below.
Temperate areas
Another device, under development may be described later for temperate areas (2021).