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

submitted 1 year 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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[-] jcit878@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Gsus4@feddit.nl 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

True...otherwise it's reverse hydro, which could be done with surplus renewables at peak times, but not at more than 10km.. This is mostly aimed at coastal communities (and sustainable floating villages 😁)

...or you could say fuck it, go full Dutch and build wind turbines and reservoirs everywhere to get water to all crops and green deserts 😊.

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this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023

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