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.
  • flathead@lemm.ee
    121·
    10 months ago

    thanks for posting the supplement, which goes into considerable detail. There is also this diagram which shows how it works:

    diagram of desalination device showing how water flows through an inner chamber with a membrane

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
    51·
    10 months ago

    But doesn’t that produce salty brine that fucks up our ocean?

    • Stoneykins [any]@mander.xyzEnglish
      12·
      10 months ago

      The brine is a thing that needs handled, but there are ways to handle it.

      Unfortunately it is the kind of thing where the best solutions, like drying it and storing the salts, or pumping it underground, are expensive (and therefore hard to convince anyone to use), and the cheap solutions, like just dumping it back in the ocean, can have severe negative effects, like killing everything in the water around where it is dumped.

      Edit to add: although looking at this, depending on how they actually build it, it might sort of just turn ocean water into brine on the spot as it removes water. That would be basically like dumping it bqck in the ocean as far as effects, and doesn’t seem ideal

    • Draghetta@lemmy.world
      3·
      10 months ago

      Isn’t that why good god gave us deserts? To build Salt Hill 8210 within the next two decades?