Water separator having a gutter

A water separator for reducing a water content of an air stream used in a Heating, Ventilating, and/or Air-conditioning (HVAC) unit of a vehicle, said water separator comprising:

• an air intake for introducing the air stream into said water separator;
• a housing defining said air intake and having a diverter wall and an adjacent wall spaced from said diverter wall with said diverter wall and said adjacent wall defining an air passage within said housing and is in communication with said air intake for allowing the air stream to flow through said housing with said diverter wall having a terminal end extending into said air passage for changing a direction of the air stream flowing through said air passage thereby separating water droplets from the air stream such that the water droplets form on at least said diverter wall to reduce the water content of the air stream;
• an air outlet defined by said housing and in communication with said air passage downstream from said terminal end of said diverter wall for discharging the air stream having the reduced water content from said air passage for use in the HVAC unit;
• and
• a gutter coupled to said terminal end of said diverter wall in said air passage with said gutter defining a drainage channel configured to receive the water droplets that form on said diverter wall for preventing the water droplets that form on said diverter wall from reentering the air stream flowing through said air stream passage.