Even in today’s world of globalization and advanced technological contributions, something as simple as access to clean water still eludes a large portion of the planet’s population. As a student of engineering and an aspiring engineer, coming up with successful plans to bring clean water to those who lack it is a top priority. After all, approximately 780 million people lack access to an improved water source, which is about one in nine people on Earth (Water.org, 2014). This is a staggering and shocking number! As citizens of first world countries, we need to make clean water accessible to all people in every region of the planet. When living in an urban area, it is hard to think about rural areas of the world but it
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Oceans cover 75% of the planet and therefore it seems only reasonable to take this water and figure out a way for it to help the populations who are deprived of clean water. But desalination is a difficult process. Generally, desalination is when we attempt to take out the salt from the ocean water to make it safe to drink, to use in sanitation, and to use in agriculture. There have been many processes of desalination tried over the years. First, there is the process of reverse osmosis, which attempts to use a membrane to separate the salt from the water (Strauss, 2013). While membrane distillation can offer purified water, it is often a difficult process to master. Another process that has been used in recent years is nano-osmosis, which allows for less energy use but requires the use of small, almost microscopic technology. Nano-osmosis filters the salt out of the water with tiny tubes of carbon and it has a pressure-driven membrane that allows for molecular desalination (Agboola, Maree, & Mbaya, 2014). This makes the water microscopically cleaner and less salinated, which is preferable. The problem with desalination through the newer means of nano-osmosis is that the plants are very expensive to set up and operate. Accordingly, only those communities near the source (the sea or the ocean) and with a large governmental revenue stream, can take advantage of these new
Oceans cover 75% of the planet and therefore it seems only reasonable to take this water and figure out a way for it to help the populations who are deprived of clean water. But desalination is a difficult process. Generally, desalination is when we attempt to take out the salt from the ocean water to make it safe to drink, to use in sanitation, and to use in agriculture. There have been many processes of desalination tried over the years. First, there is the process of reverse osmosis, which attempts to use a membrane to separate the salt from the water (Strauss, 2013). While membrane distillation can offer purified water, it is often a difficult process to master. Another process that has been used in recent years is nano-osmosis, which allows for less energy use but requires the use of small, almost microscopic technology. Nano-osmosis filters the salt out of the water with tiny tubes of carbon and it has a pressure-driven membrane that allows for molecular desalination (Agboola, Maree, & Mbaya, 2014). This makes the water microscopically cleaner and less salinated, which is preferable. The problem with desalination through the newer means of nano-osmosis is that the plants are very expensive to set up and operate. Accordingly, only those communities near the source (the sea or the ocean) and with a large governmental revenue stream, can take advantage of these new