creating water

Factual Questions
1

Let’s say there’s a drought. Your (enter location name here) region needs rainfall and there ain’t none in sight. (Double negatives with non-words be damned!)

Could you, if the scale was large enough, ECONOMICALLY create water out of stores of hydrogen and oxygen? That is, with enough tanks of gas, could you make enough water to supply a small town? City? Large city?

And where could you get these large supplies of gasses to make the water from?

There are coastal cities that spend fortunes on desalinization plants, is this a viable alternative? (Since I don’t believe they have been created yet, I assume the answer is a resounding no. But I like knowing why.=)

2

Hydrogen is far more valuable as fuel than as an ingredient for water. If you had an abundant supply of hydrogen, it would make much more sense to sell the hydrogen and use that money to transport water or build a desalination plant.

3

Well, seeing as how the space shuttle does exactly that to reach orbit, it would certainly be feasable. However, to get water quickly requires such an exothermic reaction that I doubt the citizenry would be greatful.

4

Free hydrogen doesn’t exist in any significant quantity in nature. To make it, you’d probably have to start with electrolyzing water, which makes it pointless to then go and make the hydrogen back into water.

5

It takes more energy to break up water into hydrogen & oxygen, than you get from burning hydrogen (& oxygen). So, as AndrewL says it is a pointless exercise.

6

True, but you don’t need pure hydrogen to create water. You could burn any hydrocarbon (coal, oil or natural gas) - it will produce CO2 and water.

Which, as I said, is a huge waste of fuel if all you need is the water.

7

You will need in the range of 1250 gallons of Hydrogen (at approx room temp/pressure conditions) to make one gallon of water.

Water from fuels is chemically water, but you’ll need to process it a lot before making it portable.

Other option is Desalination. (if a sea is nearby)

Other option is seeding CLouds with Silver salts.

Other option is Tugging a Ice Berg from the poles. (sea nearby)

Other option is to pump water from where there is.

There are devices to make water for survival in tough battlefields. But those are not economical on large scales.

8

::is too late to offer helpful information::

::bad joke about making water::

9

Actually, they’re quite viable. The Bahamas get their tap water using them. The water there tastes a bit strange but is certainly drinkable.

10

Oops, misread your post. I somehow thought you said desalinization plants were not viable. Anyway, what the others have said simply sums it up - it’s usually easier to transport the water as water than as hydrogen or hydrocarbons.