this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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510
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
119 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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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[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 17 points 2 years ago (3 children)

All this stuff is like planning to colonize mars before we stop destroying earth. There is plenty of water if we just stop fucking pumping it all out and wasting it.

[–] DanglingFury@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

All farmers growing cotton in the middle of the fucking desert along the colorado river basin disagree with you

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Or how they destroyed the Aral sea for cotton

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

Clean freshwater isn’t evenly distributed across the world and it’s not easy or cheap to transport. This kind of tech can help the people that will be most impacted by climate change to survive.

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Can you believe some people actually drink that stuff straight from the tap? It's like they don't even care about the golf courses at all!

[–] applejacks@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

why would anyone drink plain old boring water when you can get Mt. Dew from any gas station?

[–] SnipingNinja@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Brawndo, it's got what plants crave