Fontus: Someday cyclists won't have to worry about not having water in their vehicle. A device created by Kristof Retezár, an industrial design student at the Vienna University of Applied Arts, collects and condenses moisture in the air while the bike is in motion. He then fills a water bottle that is attached to the bike frame.
The name of the device is “Fontus”And took it from the Roman god of wells and springs. It uses the principle of thermoelectric cooling, in which an electric heat pump transfers heat from one side of the vessel to the other.
The Fontus device is still in the prototype stage. The design was recently finalist in the 2014 James Dyson Award, an international design competition.
How does it work; According to the product description on jamesdysonaward.org, solar panels produce the electricity needed to cool the top chamber of the appliance while the bottom is heated. As the bicycle moves forward, the air enters the chamber, and then cools as it moves through the upper chamber. The moisture from the air is then concentrated in water and drips into a bottle.
According to Retezár manufacturer with hot and humid weather, the product works best. In such climatic conditions Fontus can produce up to half a liter of water per hour. The system starts to work well when the temperature is at 20 degrees Celsius and the humidity reaches 50 per cent. Under these conditions, the product produces about one drop of water per minute.
These climatic conditions of course are not easy to find in Vienna. So to test the system, Retezár had to simulate different atmospheric conditions in his bath.
The device does not yet have a cleaning system, so the existing design is not ideal to operate in a dirty city.
The basics data of the device is not too expensive as stated by the manufacturer. He has estimated the cost of the prototype device to be between $25 and $40. However, this may change with future changes as the device needs improvements.
