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

  • starman2112
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    1 year ago

    I mean you die if you only drink distilled water and never consume anything else, but the same is still true of mineral water

    • Nougat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I was unclear - that’s exactly what I meant. I was thinking of a suitcase-sized still being used in an emergency or survival scenario, for a time anything other than “very short term.”