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Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water (news.mit.edu)

submitted 2 years ago by Gsus4@feddit.nl to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun.

In a paper appearing today in the journal Joule, the team outlines the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.

The researchers estimate that if the system is scaled up to the size of a small suitcase, it could produce about 4 to 6 liters of drinking water per hour and last several years before requiring replacement parts. At this scale and performance, the system could produce drinking water at a rate and price that is cheaper than tap water.

https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(23)00360-4

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[–] danielfgom@lemmy.world -5 points 2 years ago (4 children)

We have destination where I live but the problem is this: the water often smells like fish. And it's very hard because they use so many chemicals.

I don't think desalination is the solution.

[–] Gsus4@feddit.nl 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don’t think desalination is the solution.

Solution to what?

Literally all rainwater comes from solar-powered evaporative desalination. There is nothing better than that, whatever the use.

[–] dsemy@lemm.ee 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Around half of Israel’s drinking water is desalinated, and I’ve never encountered what you describe.

[–] hellequin67@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago

Not from Israel but our entire water system is desalinated and I've never experienced any issue with the taste, in fact the opposite is true. Pure clean drinking water.

I will agree with the hardness aspect but other than that it's perfectly good, i've tasted worse bottled mineral water.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind. The resulting water vapor can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water.

This is not a chemical desalination. It's a classic solar distiller. The output is distilled water. You actually want to cut it with a bit of seawater, because drinking distilled water pulls salts and minerals out of you, and then you die.

[–] Axiochus@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

Drinking distilled water is actually not that dangerous, so long as you get salts some other way (food!). In order for distilled water to cause runaway deplasmolytic processes, you'd need to spend a lot of time only drinking that, afair from high school bio.

[–] Cyberwitch_7493@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 years ago

Producing clean water is a multi-faceted problem, your locale may require a different or multiple different solutions.

Multiple solutions are often nice cause you don't have to rely on a single solution if one goes down or has issues.