As much as 71% of the planet is covered in water and yet 96.5% of this water is in the oceans. Despite the fact that water is essential for humans and all life on the planet, as little as 1.5% is available for human use at any given time. The human race keeps expanding, in order for everyone to survive new technologies must be developed to ensure there is clean water available for everyone. This is more than just having the very best 5 stage reverse osmosis filter in place. While this is essential to ensure the water is clean and safe to drink, before you can use the filter you need to have the water available.
By Team Savant
Image: Jana Sabeth
1. Solar Power
Image: Vivint Solar
Solar power is being used in a multitude of applications and one of the possibilities is in filtering water. In many places around the world there is water but it is not clean. This s partly due to a lack of sewage facilities, allowing sewage to mix with fresh water. The result is sickness and death.
But, the solar powered filtration system can be installed and filter this water, along the same lines as the 5 stage reverse osmosis filtration system already mentioned. This will give clean water to those that need it.
2. Desalination
Desalination plants are not new but they are becoming more popular. The plants take seawater and remove the salt and other minerals, making the water safe to drink. It’s the perfect solution for countries that have little rain, especially if they have a sea border.
Israel is the perfect example of this where 60% of their water comes from desalination.
3. Fog Catchers
If you have no rain or ground water and plenty of fog you can actually collect the fog! It’s surprisingly simple. Several large vertical nets are erected which ‘capture’ the fog. The moisture in the fog trickles down the nets and into a filtration system. It can then be piped to anywhere it is needed.
The technology is already being used in the Sidi Ifni region of Morocco.
4. Drinkable Book
This advancement is actually an opportunity to educate people. The drinkable book I a book written on coffee filter paper with basic water and sanitation advice on each page. The pages of the book can be used to filter water remove 99.9% of bacteria. One book can provide clean water for one person for four years!
5. Water From Air
Water is in the air, we breathe it in and out all day long. Solar power is now being used to harvest this water. The solar panel simply heats a sponge and creates condensation in the process. The condensation is collected and filtered to create drinking water. One solar panel can collect up to 10 liters a day, a lot of solar panels can make a huge difference to many people.
Water isn’t really in short supply, making sure it’s clean enough and safe to drink that’s the real issue. These 5 methods, along with good filtration systems, can help everyone to get the water they need.