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A quick and cheap way to turn seawater into fresh water
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
Today, there are quite a few areas on Earth where there is an acute shortage of clean drinking water, and in this regard, scientists from different countries are trying to develop an effective and fast way to purify water. Most researchers are working on a process for converting seawater into fresh water that would not only justify the costs, but would also be convenient for remote rural areas.
Researchers at an Egyptian university in Alexandria have developed a promising new technology that makes salt water drinkable in just a couple of minutes.
The new method of the Egyptian developers is based on special salt-retaining membranes, as well as the process of evaporation and condensation, which allows dirty sea water to be purified and made suitable not only for irrigation, but also for use in everyday life (drinking, cooking, etc.).
Special membranes contain cellulose acetate powder, the cost of which in Egypt is relatively low. Together with other components, the powder binds ionic salts as water passes through the membranes. In principle, the technology is a filter that collects salt and releases fresh clean water (all other filters existing today retain microorganisms and solid particles).
This purification process is the first, in the second stage of this two-phase process the heating of the obtained water begins until it completely evaporates, and the resulting steam condenses, which allows you to get rid of the smallest impurities that could not be retained by the membranes, this is the final stage, after which clean drinking water is collected.
The Egyptian researchers published the results of their work in a scientific journal. They noted that the technology they created allows purifying water that contains several types of contaminants. In essence, this method of purification is quite complex and requires a lot of effort and expense, but the new technology will allow thousands of people to get simple and quick access to clean water, suitable not only for irrigation, but also for consumption, using sea water as a huge resource.
To create such a filter, cheap materials are required, which are produced in Egypt, due to which the water purification technology justifies the costs and is available for mass distribution. Another advantage of such filtration is that there is no need to spend electricity during the purification process, due to which the method is low cost and can be used even in remote areas where there are problems with electricity.
It is worth noting that the shortage of fresh water today is felt by 1/5 of the world's population of our planet, this problem is especially acute in India, North Africa, and the Middle East. According to scientists' forecasts, in 30 years more than half of the world's population (approximately 5 billion) will face the problem of a shortage of fresh water, and more than 1 billion will not have access to clean water at all.
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