We are overpumping groundwater, we have already built more dams than we can afford economically and environmentally, and we have tapped nearly all of the accessible rivers. Far more must be done to use our existing water more efficiently, but with the world's population escalating and the water supply dwindling, the economic tide may soon turn in favor of desalination. The Pacific Institute is an Oakland, Calif. Already a subscriber?
Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Discover World-Changing Science. Read more from this special report: Confronting a World Freshwater Crisis. So why don't we desalinate more to alleviate shortages and growing water conflicts?
Sea or saltwater can be converted into fresh drinking water by using one of the 5 ways suggested above. This process can be slow and painful to watch but I suggest you try one or all of them if you are interested. We love using the easy EZ ways to prepare for emergencies so naturally we really enjoy the Aquamate Solar Inflatable Kit and the Megahome Water Distiller so give them a shot!
It is empowering to know how to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water and convenient to have the two above mentioned items to make it happen. Good Luck! I value the safety, protection, and well-being of my family above all else. Finding easy and practical ways of prepping for emergencies or unexpected disaster has become very important to me.
I have tried a large variety of freeze dried foods from several different companies and have compiled a list of the best freeze dried food for camping, backpacking, food storage, or any emergency I have spent hours preserving foods through various methods such as dehydrating, canning, freezing, and fermenting but have found that using a freeze dryer to freeze dry foods is my favorite Skip to content.
Desalination , What is it? Can you boil salt water to make it drinkable? Boiling water is not enough to make it drinkable No, boiling saltwater alone is not enough to make that water drinkable. So how do you make salt water drinkable through desalination? Stove Top : Use a pot, lid, stove, and metal cup Solar Desalination : Use a large bowl, a cup or smaller bowl, a sheet of plastic, and a small pebble or rock Solar Desalination : Use a bowl or container, a plastic sheet, and small rocks Aquamate Solar Still Emergency Water Purification Inflatable Kit Megahome Countertop Water Distiller 3 innovative DIY ways to make sea or saltwater drinkable with basic everyday supplies from home Stove Top: Use a pot, lid, stove, and metal cup Solar Desalination: Use a large bowl, a cup or smaller bowl, a sheet of plastic, and a small pebble or rock Solar Desalination 2: Use a bowl or container, a plastic sheet, and small rocks 1.
Make sure the pot lid has a good seal with the edges of the pot. Without a good seal, a lot of the steam will escape and this will reduce the supply of fresh water vapor. Finally, once the water has cooled it will be ready to drink!
Solar Desalin ation: Use a large bowl, a cup or smaller bowl, a sheet of plastic, and a small pebble or rock Needed Materials: Large bowl or container Cup or smaller bowl Sheet of Plastic Small rock or pebble This next innovative way to distill water is called solar desalination. Seawater is forced through a semipermeable membrane that separates salt from water. Boil the salt water until you have enough to taste. Taste the distilled salt water. It is not necessary to drink any of it.
You may spit it out after tasting. Humans cannot drink saline water. In fact, adding salt does the very opposite of making water boil faster. Instead, it makes it take longer for the water to boil!
The salt actually increases the boiling point of the water, which is when the tendency for the water to evaporate is greater than the tendency for it to remain a liquid on a molecular level. Seawater is toxic to humans because your body is unable to get rid of the salt that comes from seawater. Your body normally gets rid of excess salt by having the kidneys produce urine, but it needs freshwater to dilute the salt in your body for the kidneys to work properly.
Lack of access to safe freshwater creates or contributes to a host of problems. The most obvious one is disease. People who do not have access to safe drinking water have to get their water from unreliable sources, which often makes them sick.
The World Health Organization WHO estimates that at least 2 billion people globally drink water from sources contaminated with feces. Another problem is that people, often women and girls, must travel long distances to get to these water sources.
This takes time that could have been spent studying for children or working, thus trapping communities in a cycle of poverty. Women and girls are also in danger of being attacked during these long walks. Many communities facing water scarcity do have access to an abundant water source — the sea. Seawater is not suitable for human consumption, but a solution does exist: desalination. Desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater, making it drinkable.
This is done either by boiling the water and collecting the vapor thermal or by pushing it through special filters membrane. The problem is that this process requires vast amounts of energy, making it unaffordable for impoverished communities and exacerbating climate change.
Back in the Netherlands, Vollebregt enlisted his friend and fellow engineering student Reinoud Feenstra to work on developing a desalination technology powered by renewable energy. The result was a system that relies on solar or other renewable energy to treat water, thus making desalination carbon-free.
This makes it both much more affordable and sustainable. The engineers founded a company to help spread their invention, called Elemental Water Makers. It is used both by private businesses, such as island resorts, and communities, such as the one in Madagascar.
For all the life-changing potential of desalination technology, there are usually two key concerns about it.
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