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.

MIT engineers and collaborators developed a solar-powered device that avoids salt-clogging issues of other designs.

More details in their paper here

  • lnxtxEnglish
    21•7 months ago

    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.

    But can it be scaled up even more? Like cubic meters per hour?

    • @sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      16•7 months ago

      I just keep waiting for them to actually produce the small suitcase sized product. It sounds like a excellent option for me, as opposed to the $4-5k desalinators that are the options now.

    • merde alorsEnglish
      2•7 months ago

      but why “if”?

      if they’re making this research, why wouldn’t they “scale up to the size of a small suitcase” and get rid of the “if”?

      • @Genrawir@lemmy.worldEnglish
        15•7 months ago

        That’s just how research works most of the time. The experimental setup required to build a working prototype and prove the initial hypothesis is always going to be larger and more complex than a mass market appliance. If that appliance ever gets built depends on a huge number of factors too. If the process scales as expected, how complex the device is to produce and if a company thinks that it can make money on it. The researchers, meanwhile, are probably more worried about their next grant funding.