American scientists create system to transform sea moisture into drinking water

With climate change, “We will have to find a way to increase the supply of fresh water because conserving and recycling water from existing sources, although essential, will not be sufficient to meet human needs”, explained Praveen Kumar, professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), one of the study's authors.

Compared to classic desalination, this method would have an important advantage: when evaporating and transforming into gas, seawater loses almost all of its natural salt. This is why rainwater is not salty.

Thus, the system would consume much less energy and would also have a much lower environmental impact than classic desalination, which produces waste such as brine, with a high concentration of toxic substances.

According to these scientists, offshore wind farms and terrestrial solar panels could contribute to powering the purification circuit. The researchers consider that this technique reproduces the natural system, but in a targeted way.

Scientists rely on a simulation based on 14 places where there are water supply problems, such as Los Angeles and Rome. Based on the models, this type of device could generate between 37,6 billion and 78,3 billion liters of water per year, depending on local conditions.

“Climate projections show that oceanic vapor flow will increase over the years, which will provide even more freshwater,” said study co-author Afeefa Rahman.

(Source: AFP)

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