▲ 217 ▼ MIT Passive Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water, scales down to the size of a suitcase. (news.mit.edu) submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net to c/technology@slrpnk.net 49 comments fedilink hide all child comments 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.
[–] rebul@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago (5 children) What will happen to the salt? permalink fedilink source hideshow 10 child comments replies: [–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net [S] 19 points 2 years ago* (1 child) Because the device is tilted, saltier water flows out of the device and back into the main salt water reservoir due to having more mass than the less salty water. As long as the main reservoir was regularly flushed with new salt water, it would never become dangerously concentrated to marine life, which is a major advantage. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Rutty@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago If scalable… nifty permalink fedilink source parent [–] Potatisen@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago Eat it permalink fedilink source parent [–] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago Sea salt is also a possible source of lithium, so you could possibly mine and filter it for various resources. permalink fedilink source parent [–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 years ago If you can get it dry enough, there are huge underground salt mines that could be back filled. But an larger ocean usually has enough currents that it dillutes out well enough to not be a major issue. permalink fedilink source parent [–] xePBMg9@lemmynsfw.com 0 points 2 years ago It's shot in to space! permalink fedilink source parent
[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net [S] 19 points 2 years ago* (1 child) Because the device is tilted, saltier water flows out of the device and back into the main salt water reservoir due to having more mass than the less salty water. As long as the main reservoir was regularly flushed with new salt water, it would never become dangerously concentrated to marine life, which is a major advantage. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Rutty@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago If scalable… nifty permalink fedilink source parent
[–] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago Sea salt is also a possible source of lithium, so you could possibly mine and filter it for various resources. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 years ago If you can get it dry enough, there are huge underground salt mines that could be back filled. But an larger ocean usually has enough currents that it dillutes out well enough to not be a major issue. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] xePBMg9@lemmynsfw.com 0 points 2 years ago It's shot in to space! permalink fedilink source parent