In the future, water is likely to become an even more valuable resource than it is today. Even wars over water are considered by experts to be quite likely. There are already first developments in this direction. For example, Egypt has protested massively against the construction of a dam in Ethiopia in recent years. A fact shows how serious the situation was: Ethiopia stationed anti-aircraft missiles next to the dam in order to be able to react to a possible Egyptian air strike. Even the UN Security Council dealt with the issue. The conflict has not yet been resolved. But it took a back seat because Ethiopia slipped into civil war. However, the example shows how important it is for many countries to have a sufficient supply of water. Here, however, a distinction is appropriate. Because water is available in large quantities almost everywhere in the world. However, because it is often salt water, there may still be a shortage of drinking water.
The energy supply takes place directly on site
From a purely technical point of view, this is not a big problem. Desalination plants have been around for several decades. In this way, Israel has now even become an exporter of drinking water. However, the systems consume an extremely large amount of energy. So, as a rule, they can only be used on a large scale by wealthy countries. An initiative around the Finnish company Solar Water Solutions would like to change this. For this reason, a new type of desalination system was developed that is based on the principle of reverse osmosis and can only be operated with locally produced solar power. The systems do not have any running costs and do not represent a burden for the state power grid. This makes them particularly suitable for two application scenarios: For use in remote areas or islands without their own power supply and in poorer countries, where the costs are the most important play an important role.
Initially, up to 200 desalination plants will be installed in Kenya
The newly developed solar system is located in a container and can treat between 3,500 and 7,000 liters of seawater per hour. A little space is required, however. Because in addition to the system, the solar modules also have to be set up. This requires a certain amount of technical expertise, but ensures that the desalination can take place independently. The functionality of the approach is now to be demonstrated in Kenya. A total of up to 200 such desalination plants will be installed in one region. From 2023 onwards, 400,000 residents could benefit from the treated water. However, no sea water is used here, but salty brackish water. Because the salt content is lower, the efficiency of the systems increases. The initiators therefore hope to be able to process 10,000 liters of water per hour. If the project in Kenya is successful, it will be expanded to other countries and regions.
Via: Inceptive Mind