RUNNING YOUR CAR ON WATER - Can you make fuel from water that you can use in your car? Yes. Will the conversion increase your fuel efficiency and save you money? Maybe. If you know what you are doing, probably yes. If your car burns gasoline, it won't burn water per se. Water (H2O) can be electrolyzed to form HHO or Brown's gas. The HHO is added to the engine's intake, where it mixes with the fuel (gas or diesel), ideally leading it to burn more efficiently, which should cause it to produce fewer emissions. Your vehicle is still using its normal fuel so you will still be buying gas or diesel. The reaction simply allows the fuel to be enriched with hydrogen. The hydrogen isn't in a situation where it could be explosive, so safety isn't a problem. Your engine shouldn't be harmed by the addition of HHO, but... it's not so simple.

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Running Your Car On Water

Can You Really Run Your Car on Water?

by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Since posting instructions for making biodiesel, many readers have noted that many cars (including mine) run on gas, not diesel, and asking about options for gas-powered vehicles.

In particular, I've gotten a lot of questions about whether it is true that you can run your car on water. My answer is yes... and no.

How to Run Your Car on Water

If your car burns gasoline, it won't burn water per se.

However, water (H₂O) can be electrolyzed to form HHO or Brown's gas.

The HHO is added to the engine's intake, where it mixes with the fuel (gas or diesel), ideally leading it to burn more efficiently, which should cause it to produce fewer emissions.

Your vehicle is still using its normal fuel so you will still be buying gas or diesel. The reaction simply allows the fuel to be enriched with hydrogen.

The hydrogen isn't in a situation where it could be explosive, so safety isn't a problem. Your engine shouldn't be harmed by the addition of HHO, but...

It's Not So Simple

Don't be discouraged from trying the conversion, but take the advertising with at least a couple of grains of salt.

When reading the ads for converter kits or instructions for doing the conversion yourself, there isn't a lot of talk about the trade-offs involved in doing the conversion.

How much are you going to spend making the conversion?

You can make a converter for about $100 if you are mechanically inclined, or you could spend a couple thousand dollars if you purchase a converter and have it installed for you.

How much is the fuel efficiency actually increased? A lot of different numbers are tossed around; it probably depends on your specific vehicle.

A gallon of gas might go further when you supplement it with Brown's gas, but water doesn't spontaneously split itself into its component elements.

The electrolysis reaction requires energy from your car's electrical system, so you are using the battery or making your engine work a bit harder to perform the conversion.

The hydrogen that is produced by the reaction is used to enhance your fuel efficiency, but oxygen also is produced.

The oxygen sensor in a modern car could interpret the readings such that it would cause more fuel to be delivered to the fuel-air mixture, thereby decreasing efficiency and increasing emissions.

While HHO can burn more cleanly than gasoline, that does not necessarily mean a car using enriched fuel would produce fewer emissions.

If the water converter is highly effective, it seems that enterprising mechanics would be offering to convert cars for people, who would be lining up to increase their fuel efficiency. That isn't happening.

The Bottom Line

Can you make fuel from water that you can use in your car? Yes.

Will the conversion increase your fuel efficiency and save you money? Maybe.

If you know what you are doing, probably yes.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

·   Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

·   Science educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

·   ThoughtCo and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.

·   Widely-published graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other illustrations used in science.

Experience

Anne Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels. She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.

In addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college professor. 

Education

Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.​

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