Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water
news.mit.edu
A new solar desalination system takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight. The system flushes out accumulated salt, so replacement parts aren’t needed often, meaning the system could potentially produce drinking water that is cheaper than tap water.

According to MIT, this technology works even at small scale, with one the size of a suitcase able to desalinate 6 litres per hour, and only needing to be serviced every few years.

Here’s a video detailing how it works.

  • stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net
    10·
    10 months ago

    200 liters is with bathing, cooking, toilets, and all the other conveniences of modern life in industrialized Western society.

    This device is aimed at small scale off grid household use - people who don’t have public water or sewer and naturally use much less.

    And if you notice, the device is fueled by sunlight - so it needs a 2x2 square of shallow water for each “suitcase”. The devices can’t stack on top of one another. If you start putting these down along the coast you quickly run out of space.

    This is to supply fresh water for poor coastal villages. It doesn’t scale to cities.