One of the most common problems faced in the modern world is the lack of drinking water. Well, three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered with water. obviously most of it is sea water which is not fit for human consumption. Only 0.37% of the water on Earth is consumable, the rest has a higher concentration of salt. In developing countries there is an increasing need for drinking water, but given the current desalination methods there is a high cost involved.
"To attain desalination, the researchers apply a small voltage (3.0 volts) to a plastic chip filled with seawater. The chip contains a micro channel with two branches. At the junction of the channel an integrated electrode neutralizes some of the chloride ions in seawater to create an “ion depletion zone” that increases the local electric field compared with the rest of the channel. This change in the electric field is sufficient to redirect salts into one branch, allowing desalinated water to pass through the other branch." - UT Austin
Now, lets see the "water chip" in action as it removes salt from seawater.
This little device currently in development phase and has only 25% efficiency. Therefore only 25% of the salt present in the water is removed, the researchers believe that further work will lead to achieving a 99% removal rate, which is necessary for producing drinking water. This prototype device only produces nanometers of clean water right now, but the team is confident that the process can be successfully scaled up to levels capable of providing viable amounts of water for an individual or household.
