Standing water and Evaporation?

Question

Whenever it rains we end up with a good amount of standing water on our back patio. It rained Friday night and we were having a cookout Saturday. There was too much of it to mop up with towels. I swept as much of it as far out into the yard as I could but it kept coming back. The ground was soaked and this is the low-point in the yard. It seemed we'd have to wait for it to evaporate (we had several hours until the party started- plus the water was in direct sunlight). My wife set up a small fan to blow on the water. I thought that this would slow down the evaporation process by cooling the water - the temp was approaching the 80s. She said that it would speed it up by circulating the air. We both had a good point but we weren't sure whose way was the most efficient. We ended up splitting the difference and setting the fan about 2 feet above the water. We asked several people later and no one knew for sure. What is the most efficient way to get standing water to evaporate quickly?

Answer 1

The fan was a good idea.  By creating airflow over the water you prevent the air over the water from saturating.  The cooling effect you mention is the evaporating water carrying energy away.  The only improvement I can think of is to use a fan-driven heater, making sure, of course that it does not come into contact with the water.

Answer 2

Your wife was right.   Air on water causes evaporation.  Think of blowng up a fogged off a mirror after a shower steams it up.