Researchers Harness Power of Osmosis for Water Purification

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

As the world approaches peak water, technology to harvest freshwater from non-potable sources becomes increasingly important. Researchers at Yale University have recently developed such desalination technology using the power of osmosis.

Chip in a few dollars a month to help support independent cleantech coverage that helps to accelerate the cleantech revolution!

While desalination systems have been around for years, Yale doctoral student Robert McGinnis and his advisor Menachem Elimelech have taken a novel approach that requires only one-tenth the electric energy used in traditional systems.

The researchers use “forward osmosis” (natural water diffusion) to draw pure water from contaminants to a concentrated salt solution. The desalinated water can easily be removed with a low heat treatment that requires minimal energy input.

Yale University will market the innovative technology through a new company called Oasys. We’ll post more information as it becomes available.

Photo Credit: Yale University


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.