• Question: due to most of the world being covered in unusable water, do you think the next few years will create something that we can do about this?

    Asked by u29morley to Ken on 20 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Ken Gibbs

      Ken Gibbs answered on 20 Mar 2012:

      Good question. Whoever can solve how to make potable water from seawater (or brackish water) will have humanity’s undying admiration.

      In fact, there has been considerable progress in trying to replace the systems that are used in some places today because they are so power-hungry and expensive to run. It seems that some types of plastic have been developed which can act as a much more efficient filter than the ceramic types which we have been using up to today.

      Because of climate change, there will undoubtedly be more places which will be requiring large reverse osmosis plants (machines which can remove the salt in the water), and systems which use less power, or are more efficient, are likely to take over from the ceramic types. Just keep watching research into plastics.

Comments

  • Photo: Bill

    Bill commented on :

    Hi Morley, Ken makes a good point about water in the context of drinking or perhaps irrigation. Another point of view might be using the water for energy. To date there have been few examples of tidal power stations and wave energy machines. I feel that this is a massive source of renewable energy and much under investigated. Of course there are significant technical, maintenance and durability issues associated with sea water but that doesnt mean we should give up. So yes, as energy costs rise and demand for energy increases the pressure will mount up for economical solutions to this problem. Perhaps if you feel strongly about it you could work on it and come up with an answer. How’s that?