“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.”
Is this really that early in the research or is there some other barrier to testing that in the near future, as in if it were that practical why didn’t they do it already?
Maybe funding. Get a grant of $10,000 and you can only build something so big.
Use that to prove it’s a viable idea that could work and go searching for a $100,000 grant to make a bigger real-use one and make refinements to then use to search for investors that can start manufacturing.
the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.
The configuration of the device allows water to circulate in swirling eddies, in a manner similar to the much larger “thermohaline” circulation of the ocean. This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind. The resulting water vapor can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water. In the meantime, the leftover salt continues to circulate through and out of the device, rather than accumulating and clogging the system.
Neat.
The team envisions a scaled-up device could passively produce enough drinking water to meet the daily requirements of a small family.
Hmm.
