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RAINBOX WATER GENERATOR: Pure Drinking Water from the Air We Breathe The next question was: how could this _ suspended on the conveyors. This contact happen? The hangar was used to house __ of cool air on hot steel caused condensation steel that had been heated to a liquefying _ to occur on such a large scale that it caused temperature of 3,200 degrees and then _ the rain to fall inside the building. formed and shaped. The hot formed-and- Matt and Dan eventually began to shaped steel was spread throughout the experiment with a refrigeration means to length of the building, cooling on the condense water, and the process worked. conveyors. It seemed that the heat from the In early 1989, the two began building steel was mixing with the humid outdoor __ prototypes. air currents passing through the building, On 9 November 1993, they were granted causing it to rain right there inside the a US patent on their atmospheric water building—a steady, light-to-medium rain generator. On 29 June 2004, they were that fell for several minutes. granted a second patent—US and foreign They then discussed how it could benefit — with worldwide rights. the people of the world to have consistent Finally, Dan and Matt realised another access to an unlimited supply of fresh part of their dream. Through Global Water water. That was the very beginning of the Ltd, and in a strategic alliance with the water project. After that summer of 1987, Aucma Group of China, their water Matt and Dan started conducting generators are now being manufactured to experiments to re-create the conditions they _ provide the world with an unlimited supply had witnessed in the large building. They of pure, fresh, drinking water. (See the tried different ways to introduce streams of _ website http://www.globalrainbox.com.) air into a box and collect the water The Rainbox water generator is currently produced. They investigated various made in various sizes, including one model technologies, materials and systems but _ that makes 1,500 gallons of water per day. were unable to produce a working model Daniel Engel is a resident of Cleveland, using the airflow concept they had Ohio, and Matthew Clasby, Jr, is a resident observed. When they sat down and _ of Orange, Texas. oo analysed the situation, they realised that the (Source: Onlypunjab.com, I March 2006, cool air flowing through the building was _ http-//onlypunjab.com/fullstory2k5-insight- coming into contact with the hot metal — news-status-22-newsID-88049. html) any major breakthroughs and scientific advancements are the result of hard work, diligence an attention to detail. Others are the result o: luck, hunches and being in the right place at the right time. The invention of these water generators is no exception, and contains elements of both luck and har work. The inventors of the water generator concept are Daniel R. Engel and Matthew E. Clasby, Jr. The story of their invention begins in 1987 on an unusually hot, humi and somewhat frustrating summer's day at a steel mill in Beaumont, Texas. Matt an Dan were working as technical repair engineers and their primary responsibility was to be available on short notice for emergency repairs within the plant. On this particular day, Matt received a phone call summoning them to an emergency in one of the fabrication buildings, a long massive structure with one side open to the outdoors. They gathered the necessary equipment and drove the repair vehicle to the emergency site. It was large enough to house two or three jumbo jets simultaneously. Matt said they were lucky this time: the required repairs were located on the mechanical assemblies of a conveyor belt only 20 to 25 feet above the ground, not high overhead (which literally meant working at elevations several storeys above the ground). As they drove into the building, Dan noticed the windshield was getting drenched with water. They both looked around to determine who was spraying their vehicle, assuming it was some kind of practical joke. They exited the repair truck and immediately noticed the building's entire floor was also covered with water. Matt and Dan both suddenly realised that water was mysteriously falling inside the massive structure: it was literally raining inside the building. They sat down to enjoy this light-to-medium shower raining down upon them. oft (Bs nee cis pe eis JUNE — JULY 2006 NEXUS = 47 "It's been a hard week. Can I have a swig?" www.nexusmagazine.com