New Tech Turns Ocean Water Vapour Into An Endless Supplier Of Drinking Water

All organisms on Earth need fresh water to survive, but unfortunately only 3% of all water on Earth is available to be consumed by humans - after it has been filtered, of course. 97% of Earth's water is found in the oceans - this water is too salty to be consumed and growing crops, making it unfit for use.'

Unsplash

Limitless supply of fresh water

Now, scientists are claiming to have tapped into an limitless supply of fresh water. Water vapour above the oceans is the source of this limitless supply of water and a new study explains how it could be converted into drinkable water.

"Eventually, we will need to find a way to increase the supply of fresh water as conservation and recycled water from existing sources, albeit essential, will not be sufficient to meet human needs... We think our newly proposed method can do that at large scales," said civil and environmental engineer Praveen Kumar, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Also read: Humans Only Need To Consume Around 1.5 to 1.8 Litres Of Water Every Day, Says Study

The proposed structure measures 210 metres in width and is 100 metres tall. It is able to mimic the natural cycle in a way that collects water.

Unsplash

The vision is to condense water vapour into liquid water from moist air that travels from the ocean surface to a nearby shore. At this point, cooling systems would do their job. According to the scientists, this system would run on renewable wind or solar energy.

Although the specifics of this tech's design aren't available yet, scientists shed some light on the quantity of extractable moisture from 14 study sites globally. And it appears that just one of these installations has the potential to meet the average daily drinking water needs of 500,000 people.

Unsplash

Also read: This 1 Km Deep Underground Tank With Ultra-Pure Water Is Helping Us Solve Universe¡¯s Mysteries

Findings from the research were published in Scientific Reports. What do you think about this curious study? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Nield, D. (2022, December 23). New Technology Could Tap Into a Virtually Limitless Supply of Fresh Water?: ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/new-technology-could-tap-into-a-virtually-limitless-supply-of-fresh-water