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High school students design a water bottle that makes sea water drinkable
Their revolutionary water bottle is a game-changer. And a life-saver.
Luis Gaskell
05.06.22

You’ve probably heard this a thousand times, but you should definitely not drink sea water. Sea water is so salty that your body will be forced to pee to expel all that salt, and you’ll end up having to expel more than you drank.

The end result is that you are left dehydrated.

Pexels - Kellie Churchman
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Pexels - Kellie Churchman

It’s a bit ironic that we need water to survive, but the largest source of water on the planet isn’t drinkable water.

This exact dilemma has been on scientists’ minds for the longest time. Just how can you make sea water drinkable?

Pexels - Matt Hardy
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Pexels - Matt Hardy

Desalination is the answer. But desalination is no simple process. It’s usually time and energy consuming.

At least, it normally is.

But these high school students have put their minds together and come up with an awesome research project as a possible answer.

Its scientific value and implications are well worth the news it’s making.

Pexels - Mauriscio Mascaro
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Pexels - Mauriscio Mascaro

Their names are Gracie Cornish, Laurel Hudson, Kathleen Troy, and Maia Vollen. Helping them make the project into a reality was associate professor Jonathan B. Boreyko and grad student Ndidi Eyegheleme.

They published their work in a journal, and titled it “Transpiration-powered desalination water bottle”.

Pexels - Ray Bilcliff
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Pexels - Ray Bilcliff

Taking major cues from mangrove trees, the water bottle design makes use of two key features to work its magic (well, it’s science and not magic but you get the idea).

Those would be a solar fin with a micromesh supporting it, and a film of “continuous” nanopores where the work is done.

Cornish, Hudson, Troy, and Vollen came up with the idea from observing similar technology in hiker’s straws.

Remember that nanopore film inside of the bottle? It’s meant to mimic what a leaf does. In the saltwater goes, and this nanopore film outputs it to an adjacent chamber.
Pexels - Joel de la Cruz
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Pexels - Joel de la Cruz
Once it’s in that chamber, evaporation is the next step. The special trick here is transpiration, the same thing plants do.

A reverse osmosis process then happens in the chamber, which their paper explains in more detail.

Transpiration achieved with the help of a leaf-like film is all inspired by the amazing adaptations of plants like the Mangrove tree.
Pixabay - kmarius
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Pixabay - kmarius

Their design is still purely conceptual, but I would absolutely love to see someone attempt a physical prototype.

Though I know making physical models and prototypes is expensive.
And if it does find success in physical form, that would be nothing short of incredible. It’d help with people who have no access to clean drinking water, and its technology could be applied in other shapes and forms too.
Pexels - Matt Hardy
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Pexels - Matt Hardy
Maybe we should give them funding? Some research grants maybe? I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, I think.

Still, let’s not forget how outstanding of a project this is to come from such a young group of people.

Pexels - Jopwell
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Pexels - Jopwell
These four have a bright future ahead of them, and this published paper is already sure to get them recognition in school and in future research positions.

Goes to show why you should take your studies seriously, and why science is always cool.

Read their whole paper in the linked sources below, and please give this article a share as well.

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