Inventor develops process to make car run on water

by Elvira Mata
Times Journal
April 25, 1981

[DanielDingel.com Note: This is a text-encoded version of an original newspaper article as depicted in the photograph.]

EAT your heart out, OPEC. A Filipino has devised a way to make a car run on water.

And he's not even a mad scientist.

Daniel Dingel drives a yellow 1980 Toyota Corolla which uses water for fuel. How? With two reactors, four plastic water containers and a bunch of hoses.

"The principle involved," according to Dingel, an automotive engineer, "is to burn the water."

"Water is burned by the two reactors. A chemical (which he concocted himself) is baked into the reactor and their combined action separates the water into oxygen and hydrogen," he amatter-of-factly said.

"When water is fed to the first reactor, because of the chemical process involved, it becomes lighter. This light water passes through a second reactor which separates it into hydrogen and oxygen. These gasses go into the carburetor and combustion follows," he said.

The only time gasoline is used is to start the car. Water however, does not seep into the engine. Dingel said that the gasoline jets automatically shut after the engine has started.

Dingel claims his car runs on 21 kms. per liter of water. He mentions other advantages of a car which runs on water. "Engine power is increased by 30 to 50 per cent because the combustion characteristics of hydrogen is higher than gasoline."

"Motor oil can be used three times longer because there is less burned fuel to contaminate it," he said. "It is also pollution-free."

He however points out two disadvantages: one, because the car runs on water, the muffler and the tail pipes are easily corroded. Two, the engine uses six spark plugs, not just the conventional four. Also, the spark plugs have to be changed at least once a month because they are easily corroded with water.

But then, what's P48 (the cost of six spark plugs) a month, compared to the phenomenal savings using water instead of premium gasoline?


This car runs mainly on water
RP inventors show off...

A TRIP to Baguio city using only one liter of gasoline and 12 liters of water? Incredible, maybe, but certainly not impossible with a new invention called the "water fuel" system.

ALL THE gasoline that may be needed for a car or any vehicle running on "water fuel" is 30 cubic centimeters, the amount needed to start and accelerate the car.

The water fuel system inventor, who refuses to be identified, says his invention actually uses tap water. Through wires, sparkplugs, and bottles fitted into a vehicle engine, this water is made lighter and consequently burned for fuel, he says.

With the product, a trip of 250 kilometers such as the one from Manila to Baguio - can be easily made with just a liter of gasoline and 12 liters of water. The inventor says he plans to make the system available in the market in three years' time at a cost of less than P1,000.