Is the water from Hydrogen fuel cells potable? Can I drink it?

When the hydrogen is burned into H20, yes, that's totally pure. The only way there would be impurities would be if there was some impurity in the fuel source, or if the water became contaminated somewhere after combustion.

Distilled water is also amazingly pure. If your intent is to drink the water, it turns out that some water can be too pure- because water transfer through cells is based on concentration, if your water source is too pure it can cause cells in your body to swell or rupture. Artesian water is good drinking water because it has just enough other stuff to be great for the body.

I do think that would be cool, though- using hydrogen fuel to solve both a fuel problem and a fresh drinking water problem. It's an exciting technology!

We drink tailpipe water for TV cameras on a regular basis. Can you drink it? Yes. It's distilled water. Do you want to drink lots of it? No. The tailpipe is dirty and the fuel cell membrane leaves trace amounts of chemicals. Does a car make enough water to drink? No. Running hard all day an FCV only makes about 1/3 cup of water.

It is true that the astronauts on the Space Shuttle and sailors on fuel cell-powered submarines drink the water, but those ships use a different type of fuel cell than the PEM fuel cells in vehicles.

Chris at CaFCP

www.cafcp.org

Some fuel cells use unique metals in their construction. These metals will dissolve into ions in the water. This can have an impact on your health.

Properly engineered to provide drinking water (like NASA does) this is safe. However I would not recommend it in most situations.

The technology is already being used on the space shuttle to provide power and drinking water.

Good luck!