Posted on 10/14/2008 6:12:23 PM PDT by nickcarraway
RunTex owner wants to put water machines around Lady Bird Lake
When Willie Nelson kicks back on his ranch near Lake Travis, he sips water from a machine that condenses it right out of the air.
Now he's partnering with longtime friend Ed Russell of Dripping Springs to market and sell those machines through a company dubbed Willie Nelson's Water From Air. He's also working with the owner of the RunTex chain of athletic stores, which sells the water-makers, to connect the concept to Austin's running community.
And no, Nelson says he isn't in it for the money.
"This is going to ruin my image," Nelson says as he tosses down a cup of chilled water while standing on the front porch of a building that is part of an old movie set on his ranch in Spicewood. "They'll never believe 'Whiskey River' again."
But for fans who have paid attention, the singer's latest business venture fits right in with his eco-friendly outlook. In 2005, Nelson and three business partners formed a company called Willie Nelson's Biodiesel and started marketing BioWillie, a fuel made mainly of soybean oil, to truck stops. All three of Nelson's tour buses run on biodiesel, as do the tractors and lawn mowers at his ranch, where he's got a 600-gallon tank that holds the stuff.
Nelson also briefly had a line of bottled water, but canceled the contract last year after a legal disagreement.
Canadian scientist Roland Walghren developed the technology used in the water machines that Nelson is distributing about eight years ago. Wataire International Inc., based in California, acquired the technology in 2006 and is one of several companies marketing such water makers to disaster relief organizations, Third World companies, militaries and homeowners.
A patent is pending on the process Wataire's machines use to clean the water and make it drinkable. "It's not rocket science to collect the water, because any air conditioner can do that, but the trick was being able to clean it up," says company spokeswoman Mavis Robinson. "(Our machine) takes moisture from the air and turns it into potable water and is not depleting ground reserves."
Thousands of the cooler-sized machines have been sold in 47 countries including Australia, India, Mexico, Indonesia and the Phillipines, Robinson says. She says it costs about 8 cents a liter — less than 25 cents per gallon — to make water.
Nelson got into the business through a music relationship. When Canadian musician Derek Miller came to Austin to record with Double Trouble in February, he met Russell. Russell hand-delivered a song by the Canadian to Nelson as a favor. Nelson liked the song and ended up recording it with Miller. To repay Russell, Miller introduced him to Wataire, which shipped Russell a couple of sample water-making machines.
Russell gave one to Nelson, who set it up. "The next day, it was full of water," says Russell, now the Gulf Coast distributor of the machines. "He drank it, he liked it. He's for reducing plastics and this kind of helps do that."
Russell, who has about 50 of the machines stashed in his Dripping Springs garage, set up one of the machines at Poodie's Hilltop bar near Lake Travis, another at Esther's Follies and one each at RunTex's downtown and Lake Austin Boulevard locations. He's also considering installing a large one on the rooftop of Carl's Corner, a truck stop/music spot just south of Dallas that sells BioWillie biodiesel fuel.
The machine works like a de-humidifier, extracting moisture from the air, then pushing it through a series of filters before treating it with ultraviolet light to remove mold, bacteria, algae and other organisms. The water is stored in a reservoir, where it is chilled or heated for drinking.
A home-sized version of Wataire's machine, which is manufactured in South Korea, makes about 8 gallons of water a day in Austin's relatively high humidity. (In drier environments it makes about 4 or 5 gallons a day.) Larger versions of the machines can make 2,500 or 5,000 gallons a day.
"If you're a couple, that's all the water you need in a day," Nelson says of the smaller model. "Eight gallons is a lot. It's not as if you need to use it in the commode. No, we don't recommend you use it in your commode. It hasn't been cleared for the commode."
The home-sized machine sells for $1,699 and uses about 450 watts of electricity, the equivalent of four or five standard light bulbs, when it is fully running. It shuts off when the reservoir fills.
"Look. If I knock on a door with one of these machines and plug it in and say 'I'll come back tomorrow and you'll have 8 gallons of drinking water, and if you don't like it I'll pick it up,' I wouldn't have to pick many up," Nelson says. "Maybe I'm easy, but something that makes water out of the air that you can drink sounds like a good idea."
Paul Carrozza, the owner of the RunTex stores and a friend of Nelson's, likes the potential, too. He's considering putting an industrial-sized, solar-powered version of one of the water-makers on the hike-and-bike trail around Lady Bird Lake and rigging it with multiple dispenser hoses. Carrozza already provides free jugs of chilled water to runners using the trail.
"I want to rig it to a system with a bunch of feeders — like a drinking trough for the most active community in the world," Carrozza says.
He has machines set up in two of his RunTex stores and encourages customers to drink water from them.
He also wants to work with Nelson, a sometimes runner. "I think he's a good hustler, and I want to utilize his skills," Carrozza chuckles.
"The water's good," Nelson says, sloshing back another glassful as the two hang out at Nelson's ranch. "I don't trust tap water in Austin — or Dallas or Houston. All water that comes out of the ground has been violated in many ways. At least if it comes from the air it's got a better chance ... If you really don't trust tap water, this is a way to go around that."
He walks inside the wooden storefront building, part of the town of Luck in the 1986 movie "Red Headed Stranger," and removes his oversized dark sunglasses. "Here's the water machine over here," he says. "Want to try some?"
Terry Lickona, producer of the "Austin City Limits" television show, who's stopped in for a visit, takes him up on the offer.
"Tastes like fresh spring water to me," Lickona says.
Nelson just grins knowingly.
And Willie grows his own medicine, how earth-friendly he is.
Could this thing be used to give people in third world countries “clean” (or cleaner) drinking water?
Yea, but they kinda need electricity to run it. I have a feeling electricity costs more in third world countries than it does here!
But, maybe, they could break down the hydrogen and oxygen in the water to power a fuel cell that can then power a generator that can run the water maker.
Then, they could have enough left over water and electricity to buy the American Dream.
Willie discovered clouds? ;^)
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