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

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (18 children)

cool, but the real cost of desalination is transporting the desalinated water upstream, which presumably would also need to be done here

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Considering how many people live near the coast it would still be a huge step forward. Right now even for most coastal cities desalination isn't cost effective and they have to import water from inland.

And by not having to deliver as much water from inland to the coast that water can be distributed more for people living inland.

Yes, it's not going to make inhospitable areas liveable but it's not just "cool".

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (8 children)

the issue with water networks is they work great when you have the source (usually dams) upstream, water essentially is gravity fed throughout the network with only some localised pumping for certain elevated locations. wastewater again gravity fed towards treatment plants at the lowest point (usually the ocean), so usually, its fairly efficient, despite still requiring enormous amounts of energy.

this doesnt solve that. it has the source where the end point is. the desalinated water needs to be pumped up, to then be gravity fed through the network. In some places, it is worth the cost and energy due to water scarcity, and im not knocking the technology. but claiming its cheaper than tap water is patently false because the distribution cost is far higher