Drinking water with air dehumidification and solar energy: adaptation to drought stress in RS

The state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has an average rainfall between 1200-2400 mm per year. However, climate change is concentrating these rains in the south and east of the state. As a consequence, since the last 10 years there are situations of extreme water stress for water potability in the western and northern regions. However, these regions maintain minimum relative humidity levels above 60%. Therefore, this study investigated the use of Peltier system in compact configuration with photo disinfection to obtain drinking water. The module consisted of a box of expanded polystyrene, Peltier chip, aluminum heatsinks, fans, plastic container and funnel. The storage unit was comprised of a water quartz tube (60×700 mm) with the passage of UV radiation (germicidal lamp of 8 W) and the hydraulic pump responsible for removal of all water from the storage system. The condensation induced with relative humidity of 80% generated up to 2.6 L.m⁻².h⁻¹ and the energy consumption was about 7.92 kWh per liter of water collected.

Peltier; relative humidity; disinfection