Hey Readers,
Some intriguing solutions and actions this week to discuss, so let’s get into it.
Alphabet makes their AWG designs open-source for all to use
Alphabet, the parent company of Google have been developing an atmospheric water harvester in their ‘moonshot factory’ aptly named X. Like most AWGs (Atmospheric Water Generators), this device pulls in outside air, then uses fans and heat from sunlight to create condensation, producing clean drinking water drip by drip. The team’s prototype produced 150 milliliters of water per hour per square meter; a final device could likely produce five liters of water a day.
However to meet their internal goals for success they needed a path to make this tech work at a cost of one cent per liter, sadly they only see a pathway to ten cents per liter, so they are stopping the project! Though before you let your rage build up, know that in a move that only the Alphabet’s of the world could make, and because the design could have a meaningful impact even at 10 cents, they are now opening up their data, prototypes, software, and hardware documentation on Github and Figshare so anyone can use the intellectual property and keep moving the work forward!! (we don’t usually go beyond the one punctuation but this deserved a second one, don’t you think?)
AI to make designing desalination membranes more efficient
The world over, AI is being used to assess, streamline and in some cases completely remove the need for trial and error and expensive experimentation. In the same vein, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have built out an artificial intelligence (AI) framework for discovering the most efficient graphene nanopore for water desalination. Via a combination of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) and convolutional neural network (CNN), they are able to rapidly create and screen thousands of graphene nanopores and select the most energy-efficient ones.
Current desalination and separation processes are energy and time inefficient. Figuring out the right type of membranes to use takes time and a lot more capital. With this AI method, they can avoid expensive destructive testing and develop a model to identify the best type of membrane for desalination and separation. They say that ultimately this technology could be used for other important removal processes in water, such as removing other harmful particles, viruses and bacteria from water. In keeping with the earlier story, the team have made their codes accessible for everyone and can be found online! Kudos!
Static Electricity to clean water
We have all played that kids game where we rub a balloon on our hair and then use that to pick up pieces of paper, or maybe we’ve gotten a mild zap from someone who charges up a doorknob or something metal with static electricity. In 2012 some smart minds came up with a way to harness this previously untapped source of energy called the triboelectric nanogenerator. Using this device as an example, a team at Henan University in China have developed a device that uses the same principle to kill microorganisms in water.
They use two thin disks of copper and polytetrafluoroethylene, (the polymer used to coat nonstick pans). In the self-powered system, a controlled stream of water rotates one disk at a constant rate, forcing a repeated contact with the other disk -- like fingers brushing against fan blades. The electric field generated from this setup then destroys the cell membranes of bacteria in the water, droplet by droplet, through a process called electroporation. They intend that this process could eventually help produce clean drinking water, but there’s a catch - while the device did kill the bacteria, it completely sterilized the water only at the sluggish rate of 0.31 milliliters per minute; that's over 45 minutes for a tablespoon! So they are working on methods to scale and commercialize this process now.
Nanofilters to clean synthetic dyes from water
As we have discussed before, synthetic dyes are used in industrial chemistry and pharmaceuticals. They reach the wastewater together with other industrial waste and pollute the environment. Existing methods of water purification are not quite practical, as the proposed adsorbents are usually disposable and work slowly. Now a team of scientists from Russia, India and Korea have created a nanofilter for drawing out synthetic dyes. The filter is made of graphene oxide (GO) and manganese oxide (MnO2), and can quickly remove up to 100% of harmful compounds from water, and it can be used up to seven times without losing efficiency.
Bioremediation for petrochemicals that also produces biofuels
A research team across Russia, South Africa, and India have found a microalgae that apart from helping with bioremediation of pyrene (a compound created during the combustion process of fossil fuels) can create biofuels for downstream use. The green microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana absorbs pyrene and at the same time change their metabolism to adapt to stressful conditions. As a result, more lipids are formed in algae, from which safe biofuels can be efficiently synthesized.
At the moment this process is somewhat delicate as too high a concentration of pyrene (0.05%) almost completely destroyed microalgae, so identifying and expanding the potential working range for this algae will be important to effectively scale this process.
Modern Irrigation systems are for the undead
A team of scientists, including experts from the University of Adelaide, suggest that reliance on modern irrigation technologies as a water-use efficiency strategy is a "zombie idea"—one that persists no matter how much evidence is thrown against it. In a paper in Environmental Research Letters, the international research team reviewed more than 200 supporting research articles and found technology adoption as a water-saving method for improving irrigation efficiency is ineffective, and can actually worsen water scarcity!
In their research, the team outline a plan for future water-saving interventions. The plan includes properly accounting for water use before an intervention as well as after, to measure savings accurately, engaging with engineers to better appreciate modernisation limits, and informing downstream users how they will be affected to ensure changes are reasonable and positive.
Crypto comes to the aid of clean water
While we have all seen the news around crypto causing huge power draws and subsequent pollution ballooning out, this week Crypto.com (one of the fastest-growing digital currency platforms in the world) has donated $1 million to Water.org, to support their clean water and sanitation initiatives across the globe. Coming on the back of Charity: Water, raising $1.3 million in June through a Bitcoin-focused trust, these are all Baby steps in the right direction!
That is it for this week folks,
‘Til next Friday, Peace