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

    • threelonmusketeersEnglish
      52·
      1 year ago

      Sprinkle it on roads during the winter and have it wash back into the ocean, whence it came?

      • atzanteolEnglish
        8·
        1 year ago

        We already have plenty of salt for that.

        Plus the places that are good for solar power don’t tend to need salt in the winter…

        • threelonmusketeersEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Hmm, good points. Though if it is produced as a “waste” product, is there a chance it could be cheaper/greener than our current sources of salt?

          • atzanteolEnglish
            5·
            1 year ago

            Maybe - but desalination comes up a lot and nobody seems to have identified an option yet.

            If you produce too much you’ll crash the price of salt. And it’s so cheap I suspect most of the cost is in processing and shipping. I’m finding costs for road rock salt in the US of $60-$150 per US ton.

            Putting it back in the ocean isn’t a bad idea per se. The problem is when it’s put back in one spot which increases salinity locally. If they distributed it into the ocean it would be fine. But the added cost makes the whole process more expensive and you can’t get a headline saying your new process is “cheaper then tap”.