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Drinking Water Sucked from Dusty Desert Air Using Hybrid Hydrogel

posted by martyb on Sunday December 09 2018, @12:04PM   
from the technology dept.

karthikaqpt writes:

A simple device that can capture its own weight in water from fresh air and then release that water when warmed by sunlight could provide a secure new source of drinking water in remote arid regions, new research from KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science & Technology) suggests.

At the heart of the device is the cheap, stable, nontoxic salt, calcium chloride. This deliquescent salt has such a high affinity for water that it will absorb so much vapor from the surrounding air that eventually a pool of liquid forms.

https://www.rtoz.org/2018/12/07/drinking-water-sucked-from-the-dusty-desert-air-using-hybrid-hydrogel/

The full research paper is available on-line.

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Original Submission

• This is actually a project I had been suggesting.. This is actually a project I had been suggesting.. (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @02:08PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @02:08PM (#771916)

  Set up a chain of nuclear (or renewables if the capacity wasn't cost prohibitive) power plants going from the california coast, across nevada, to Utah. Rather than desalinating the water, just sterilize it for foreign microbes then pump it up into the great salt lake basin and the nearby lakebeds in Utah and Nevada, including the areas surrounding the bonneville salt flats. With the continually renewing source of saltwater brine the local ecology would become more humid, there would be a renewable source of salt without eroding the salt flats, and there would be an increase in freshwater in the water table as a result of the dedesertification of the nearby regions thanks to the continual influx of new water to promote more plant life.

  This covers industry, environment, public benefit, and special works porkbarrel projects all in one. It seems like it should be a sure win to blow through Congress.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	0		points
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• Re:This is actually a project I had been suggestin (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @02:15PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 09 2018, @02:15PM (#771918)

  I kinda like your idea. Let's flood Salt Lake City. That will teach those Mormon heretics!

  Parent