New solar desalination breakthrough makes fresh water without toxic brine
Key takeaways
- According to the United Nations, 2.2 billion people still do not have access to safely managed drinking water.
- Traditional desalination methods such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation can be expensive and energy intensive.
- Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a new approach that could address several of these challenges.
Why this matters: new research or scientific developments with potential real-world impact.
According to the United Nations, 2.2 billion people still do not have access to safely managed drinking water. To help meet growing demand, many regions, from California to parts of the Middle East, rely on desalination plants that convert seawater into fresh water.
Traditional desalination methods such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation can be expensive and energy intensive. They often require chemical treatments before and after processing the water and generate large volumes of concentrated saltwater known as brine. When discharged back into the ocean, brine can damage marine ecosystems by increasing salinity and reducing oxygen levels.
Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a new approach that could address several of these challenges. Their solar powered desalination system produces fresh water efficiently, operates without chemical pretreatment, and avoids creating brine waste. The research was led by Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and physics and a senior scientist at the University's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The team described the technology in the journal Light: Science & Applications.