Ford Engineers Develop In-Vehicle Drinking Fountain Concept

Ford Motor Co. has developed a process to convert condensation from a vehicle’s air conditioning unit into drinking water.

The so-called “On-the-Go H2O” system collects and stores condensation from the A/C that otherwise would drip onto the ground. The water is pumped on demand from a reservoir located in the floor pan through a 0.1-micron filter to a faucet in the passenger cabin.

Ford powertrain engineer Doug Martin got the idea after reading about a billboard in Peru that’s equipped with a system that turns humidity into drinking water. Martin, who holds 70 patents, worked with fellow engineers John Rollinger, Ken Miller and Ken Jackson on the Ford project.

The carmaker has no immediate plans to commercialize the technology, which was selected as a finalist in both the Transportation and Developing World Technology categories for Fast Company magazine’s World Changing Ideas awards.

But Ford envisions the technology eventually being used to help provide clean drinking water to people in developing countries. In addition to collecting A/C condensation, Martin notes, the system also could be used to purify dirty water.