Beicology: Can Beijing's New Water Cannons Super Soak the Skies Blue?

Beijing is aiming to super soak its way to clearer skies with pollution-fighting water cannons.

As ridiculous as that sounds, it's actually a serious and scientific method involving muzzles that spew H2O mist at the micron level, microscopically dousing and fending off smog and dust. This pair of new cannons, mounted on the backs of two vehicles dubbed "multi-purpose anti-dust trucks," are an upgraded version of earlier, more limited range models, according to a recent article in the Beijing Morning Post (via ECNS). In fact these upgraded cannons can now shoot "powerful jets of water mist over 120 meters." Just try not to get in the way of one while they're cleaning the streets of questionable pollutants ...

These dust-busting trucks will patrol 35 streets in Chaoyang district whenever PM2.5 level reaches 75 micrograms per cubic meter, unloading their liquid ammunition on apocalyptic looking clouds in a silly-yet-ambitious scene straight out of Ghostbusters. On top of that, the water in those cannons will also be mixed with a dust quelling chemical that will line the pavement and hopefully prevent filthy particles from being stirred up by speeding drivers.

RELATED: Your Mask Don't Mean Sh*t If It Ain't Got That Fit

Aside from these aqua-anti-smog cannons, Beijing also recently unveiled a plan to significantly lower air pollution in the next half decade, with measures like making industrial parks more eco-friendly and the auditing of numerous companies to ensure they maintain energy saving standards. Those plans are by no means as exciting as a smog disrupting mist spraying truck, but they may prove to be more effective, as the government's goal for its five year plan is to have 30 percent less PM2.5s in the air by 2020 and 204 annual blue sky days in the same time frame. If that comes to pass, then the "multi-purpose anti-dust trucks," could very well seem even sillier than they do now.

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Photo: Getty

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WayDaLone wrote:

I was in a taxi in the west end a few days back when we came upon a water-cannon truck at a red light. Nice of the driver not to turn off the cannon at the red light and soak all the cars within range.
It just seems like such a ridiculous idea. Hard to imagine there is any hard science to back it up on a scale that would make any significant difference. I wonder how harmful the atomized dust retardants are to one`s lungs.
Why not put up some giant fans and see if we can just blow the pollution away.

Actually water cannons for dust supression at construction sites are normal in civilized countries where they are not actively attempting to kill off the elderly population via cancer, heart disease and emphyzema to circumvent a population time bomb that is coming down the pipeline as a consequence of the one-child policy.

However I believe this only has an effect on relatively coarse dust rather than car emissions

 

 

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I was in a taxi in the west end a few days back when we came upon a water-cannon truck at a red light. Nice of the driver not to turn off the cannon at the red light and soak all the cars within range.
It just seems like such a ridiculous idea. Hard to imagine there is any hard science to back it up on a scale that would make any significant difference. I wonder how harmful the atomized dust retardants are to one`s lungs.
Why not put up some giant fans and see if we can just blow the pollution away.

your face is not contained in a sealed invorment no more than is any building you go in to there is no gareentee the filters have any qaulity or effect as you cant have a sealed invorement or a proven filter they really just sell you dreams that your doing something really useful i dont spend money on them because i dont think any of them work i can understand why people are worried enought to want to risk it helping a little