Desalination technology has been around for a few decades. But it’s incredibly expensive and well out of reach for the millions of people around the world who are in desperate need of clean drinking water.
Now there’s a ray of sunshine on the horizon. Desolenator is a relatively low cost, solar-powered device with the ability to turn polluted or salty water into enough drinkable water for a small family. The solar panel heats the water to boiling, then uses its electricity to continue boiling. The vapor this produces is pure, safe to drink, and has heavy metals and salt filtered out.
The Desolenator produces 3 to 4 gallons of clean water per day. With its current price tag of $450, it’s not yet a low cost item but it’s got the potential of getting there. The company is working to get the price down and plans to work with microfinance, leasing plans and hopefully some non-profits and governments to help lower the costs and achieve distribution.
With 2 weeks yet to go, this sounds like a really great crowdfunding project to check out.