Could You Be Filling Up Your Reusable Drink Bottle With Salt Water?

Here at Onya, we’ve got a thing about where we get our drinking water – i.e. not from disposable drink bottles. These sort of single-use plastic bottles not only add strain to landfill resources, they also endanger the planet, threatening biodiversity and wildlife.

If that isn’t enough, the price you’ll pay for the water you buy in plastic bottles is enough to make you run screaming in the opposite direction. But have no fear, once you pick up one of our nifty Onya stainless steel drink bottles, you’ll no longer have to face the horror that is bottled water.

Green technology for a greener planet

As we learn more and more about the challenges facing our planet, people have been forced to think creatively about the way we use our resources.

Renewable technology has firmly cemented its place in the global utilities arena, with technologies relying on solar, hydro and wind instead of traditional fossil fuels. Now that incredible technology is being put to yet another use thanks to the award-winning design by a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In a world first, the team from MIT plans to use solar power to operate a portable desalination device which turns salt water into drinking water, an innovation which won them the 2015 Desal Prize.

The prize was awarded by the United States Agency for International Development, in recognition of the team’s groundbreaking design which could bring potable water to areas where it’s needed most.

Clever ideas for renewable sources

While solar powered desalination systems have been seen before, the process, which relied on the reverse osmosis, has been known to be a rather pricey affair.

However, MIT’s solution will instead use electrodialysis to separate the salt from the drinking water, which results in longer life and less maintenance of the equipment, according to MIT Assistant Professor Amos Winter.

In addition, this mind boggling creation is hoped to transform up to 90 per cent of the salt water you feed into it, improving on reverse osmosis systems which usually only produce 40-60 per cent potable water.

Natasha Wright, MIT graduate student and author of the research surrounding this new concept also put a lot of focus onto the appearance and taste of the water, so that it would not only be safe, but pleasant to drink.

It’s hoped that once the designs are put into action, the solar powered desalination system will bring drinking water to regions of India without access to electricity.

If you’ve heard about some amazing sustainable innovation news, let us know! Find us on Facebook here.