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.

According to MIT, this technology works even at small scale, with one the size of a suitcase able to desalinate 6 litres per hour, and only needing to be serviced every few years.

Here’s a video detailing how it works.

    • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Solar thermal power plants? I can definitely see large scale use of them. The salt is generally not the limiting factor building them, however.

      It’s often just easier to dump excess salt back into the sea.

        • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          It depends where and how much. It would obviously need to be controlled, and spread out. You don’t want to dump a lot of it into slow moving water, that’s asking for problems. However, diluting it down, and dispersing it into stronger currents, over a large area should be fine (subject to proper environmental monitoring).

      • GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world
        1·
        10 months ago

        I was thinking instead of a nuclear plant for power, the salt could be used for the tower to power the desalination plants and prevent the salt from being dumped in the ocean, which can damage the ecosystem.