Researchers from the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Marburg in Germany have developed a new technology that can desalinate water using less energy and is much simpler compared to other processes.

About one third of the world’s population lives in areas where there is not an abundant source of drinking water, resulting in millions of deaths every year.

Researchers from the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Marburg in Germany have developed a new technology that can desalinate water using less energy and is also much simpler compared to other processes.
An electrode that can run on a store bought battery is used to remove salt from ocean water.

The process is called electrochemically mediated seawater desalination. Researchers are hoping that it can be implemented in the future to help areas that are rich in seawater, but lack the resources to desalinate it and make it safe for drinking.

Richard Crooks, a chemistry professor at the University of Texas at Austin said: “Most current methods for desalinating water rely on expensive and easily contaminated membranes. The membrane-free method we’ve developed still needs to be refined and scaled up, but if we can succeed at that, then one day it might be possible to provide fresh water on a massive scale using a simple, even portable, system.”