ESD Systems - Questions And Answers

Customer has water bottles on their benches. When empty they generate 800 volts. When filled with water, 40-50. Why?

One explanation is that the water may be colder than the surrounding air and condensation, to some extent, is occurring causing the outside of the bottle attract a thin film of moisture thereby reducing the ability to hold a charge. Another explanation is that when the water bottle is filled, the bottle may act more like a capacitor (you need a conductor in order to make a capacitor) so impure water (tap water) may be creating a capacitor effect and “hiding” some of the bottle’s surface charge. Another possibility is that by the time the person drinks all the water in the bottle, the bottle has been fully tribocharged to 800 volts from all the handling, i.e., starts out at a low charge (~ 50 volts and tribocharges with repeated handling to 800 volts). Regardless, sell them an ionizer or two, water is really important for people and selling ionizers are real important for us, a win-win situation.

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