18 WATERLINE
DECEMBER 2012
Forget about watermakers, think beetle A beetle that sucks water out of dry desert air is the inspiration behind the development of a nanotech water collecting technology with appeal to boaties. The Namib desert beetle, lives on Africa’s skeleton coast in an area with an annual rainfall of 15-20mm. Yet every morning the beetle climbs to the top of a sand dune, sticks its back to the wind, and drinks 12 per cent of its weight in water. On the beetle, water condenses in specific, hydrophilic areas of the bug’s back. It inspired Deckard Sorenson to coat a surface with hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings, and use a fan to pass air over the surface. The water condenses on the surface and collects. With more than three quadrillion gallons of water in the air, it is an incredibly rich source of a scarce resource. It requires energy to move air over the water collecting surface, but that might not be required on a boat. “We actually see the maritime environment as really a very large market for us because humidity is actually constantly regenerated over a large body of water,” says Deckard. “Then we can pull that humidity from the air to support people who possibly take long trips on yachts, or provide a sort of potable water source that can be run off a solar panel while at sea.” He hopes to bring the technology to market by 2014.
No regional help with ramps Efforts by upper harbour boaties to enlist regional council assistance in bringing about the construction of more boat ramps have failed. A Harrison Grierson report on regional harbour access presented to the regional council’s Operations Monitoring and Regulatory Committee in November, recommends the council withdraw the Harbour Access Strategy from work programmes. The decision dashes the hopes northern harbour boaties had that the regional council would support their aspirations for more upper harbour ramps. The report contrasts the difference in facilities between the upper and lower harbours, and an unsurprising difference in attitudes between northern and southern harbour users – the southern harbour users have ‘generally a high level of satisfaction with existing facilities and comparably very little requests or activity from forum members in relation to new or additional facilities’. In the north, ‘There are strong views held regarding the need for and potential locations of new boat ramps’. But while the northern harbour users agree they need new facilities, there is no agreement on what is needed where, how they should be funded and how consenting issues should be addressed. The district council says there is an unrealistic perception within the community of how and where any new facilities can be developed. The Western BOP District Council has carried out extensive investigations and evaluation of options for more than eleven years. Evaluating any new proposals for consenting will include ecological and cultural considerations, ecological assessments, tidal/coastal processes evaluations and vehicle access considerations. How it will all be paid for is not mentioned – apart from the end note, “There is also some opportunity for private interests and funding to advance these projects.”
as ire ylinder SERVICES