Research carried out in the municipalities of Campina Grande and São João do Cariri prove the viability of the production of drinking water by the formation of the dew on cold surfaces of conventional refrigeration systems or on external surfaces of PET bottles containing ice. The experimental results presented here show that the cooling of air can produce enough quantity of water to minimize the consequences of shortage of drinking water in the semiarid zone of the Brazilian Northeast region. The experiment based on direct contact between the air and the cold surface of the refrigeration system produced dew at a rate of 1.23 L h-1 m-2. To obtain a liter of dew, the system consumes, on average, 0.75 kWh of electrical energy. The obtained results are satisfactory, considering that the experimental equipment used is quite simple.
dew; drinking water; water vapour
