DailyDirt: Water, Water, Not Quite Everywhere...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

California hasn't seen much rain over the past few years, and this drought is really serious now. Culprits of high water usage are popping up in various news stories: almond growers, farmers in general, swimming pools, golf courses, fracking, green lawns, car washes, wineries, etc, etc... Multiple billion-dollar infrastructure plans are underway to try to distribute water more efficiently or make more water available to major cities and key locations. However, the environmental impact studies for some of these huge water projects aren't complete -- and the requirements for them are being relaxed. Will Californians regret spending billions on some giant water tunnels?

• California is running dangerously low on water now that it's in its fourth year of drought. Various kinds of rationing rules could start to kick in soon -- with pricing schemes that will encourage everyone to take shorter showers and get rid of grassy lawns. [url]
• Why can't California try desalination to solve its drought problems? San Diego is building a giant desalination plant, but it won't be ready until 2016 -- and the resulting water is expensive.. and the water produced can only supply a small fraction (~7%) of the state's water needs. (Plus, the salt has to go somewhere....) [url]
• Desolenator is a solar powered device to turn seawater into fresh water, and it's already achieved its Indiegogo funding goal. This isn't a large scale device. It only produces about 15 liters of clear water per day, and it's really only practical for people who live near the ocean (or on a boat). If it works, it'll be interesting to see what happens to all the salt and/or brackish water waste from these things. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: california, desalination, desolenator, drought, food, water
Companies: indiegogo

DailyDirt: Separating Salt From Seawater...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There's plenty of water on our planet, but unfortunately for us, not all of that water is drinkable or easily obtained. A whole ocean of water is even locked away underground trapped in minerals that we hopefully won't need to tap into for fresh water. However, drought conditions could get worse, so we might have to explore more exotic ways of getting potable water. Here are just a few desalination technologies that might become useful soon.

• A technique using "shock electrodialysis" could desalinate water and also eliminate particulates and bacteria from seawater. It's not certain if this method could be made economical, though, and it's a long way off from being scaled up. [url]
• Engineers at Lockheed Martin have found yet another use for graphene -- as a filter for separating dissolved salts in water. It's tricky to produce large quantities of graphene sheets with nanometer-sized holes, but look out for Perforene -- it could revolutionize desalination. [url]
• Another desalination technique using microfluidic channels and an electrochemical process could turn seawater into drinking water. This process doesn't use a lot of energy, but creating a vast number of microfluidic channels in parallel could be a bit of a challenge. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: desalination, drinking, drought, graphene, microfluidic channels, perforene, potable, salt, seawater, shock electrodialysis, water
Companies: lockheed martin

Dailydirt: Fresh Drinking Water

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Potable water is an extremely valuable resource, even though most people take it for granted. Not too many people are concerned about "peak water" yet, but there are some folks looking into the feasibility of towing icebergs to places where clean water is scarce. There are numerous ways to get clean water, but most of them are fairly energy intensive (and thereby expensive). Here are just a few notable projects for purifying water.

• Saudi Arabia is planning to build the world's biggest desalination plant, capable of processing 158 million gallons of water in a day, by 2018. Exporting fresh water could be Saudi Arabia's next valuable product. [url]
• Dean Kamen (the inventor of the Segway) has been working on a device called a Slingshot that purifies water and generates electricity. Over a billion people don't have access to clean water or electricity, so that's a lot of people who might benefit if this device works out economically. [url]
• A desalination battery uses electricity to separate sodium chloride from sea water. This technology isn't quite ready to generate tons of cheap, potable water yet, but it's a nice first step towards more cost effective ways of making sea water more useful. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: dean kamen, desalination, potable, slingshot, water

DailyDirt: Safe Drinking Water

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The world is covered in water, but not all of it is actually safe to drink. Usually, the problem is that it's too energy intensive (and thereby costly) to purify it. It's a long-standing problem, but there's been some progress. Here are just few quick links on potable water supplies.

• Banana peels have actually been proven to effectively filter out various harmful metals from water. They don't kill bacteria, though, and stuffing them into Brita bottles probably won't work, either. [url]
• Desalination should be a "last resort" for water purification, but it's been getting more widely used despite its costs. Desalination technology is improving, but it still uses a lot of energy. [url]
• Perhaps the real last resort, though, should be towing an iceberg to where you need fresh water. A 30 million ton iceberg could provide enough drinking water for about about 500,000 people -- for a year. [url]
• A bunch of companies are promoting water conservation with the slogan: "Wasting Water is Weird." Will quirky viral videos help people to conserve water? [url]
• To discover more related links on stuff we eat or drink, check out what's brewing on StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: banana peels, conservation, desalination, iceberg, potable, water
Companies: bosch, kohler, lowe's, p&g