Desalination Using Simple Materials

Water is the main source of life for humans as our body is made up of over 60% of water. We require water that is clean and safe for mandatory purposes such as food production, consumption and sanitary purposes. In many regions of the world water scarcity is a serious concern. These regions, rely heavily on water purification methods such as desalination which purifies saline water from rivers and oceans, removing minerals and salts to give fresh water. The problem with current desalination methods is that they are overly costly and requiring sophisticated equipment, and thus not well suitable for undeveloped regions which often need desalination most. This experimental work reports on a more affordable and simpler (not requiring sophisticated equipment) desalination method through the use of simple materials as it would reduce significantly the cost of production and operation. The process of the prototype will be reverse osmosis which uses pressure to force water through a filter, trapping minerals and salts to give fresh water. The materials used will be sand and clay for the filter; and steel is used for the prototype’s structure. The composition of sand and clay that can act as the filter will be the challenge, as well as the amount of pressure required to force the water through the filter. The resultant product is an affordable and simple desalination method that can produce fresh water from saline water. This product will be easy to manufacture and use which would be suitable to most people of any skill and knowledge, especially in undeveloped regions, for obtaining fresh water.