New system recovers fresh water from power plants

[A Turtle Named Mack]

A new system devised by MIT engineers could provide a low-cost source of drinking water for parched cities around the world while also cutting power plant operating costs.

http://news.mit.edu/2018/new-system-...er-plants-0608

This is something that I have been asking for years - since we are turning all that water into steam, which is to say, distilling it, why can't we capture that water before it leaves the cooling towers? The article explains why it has been inefficient, and how they overcome the inefficiencies to make it practical.

Note also that it started with a project to improve water-harvesting in arid climates from sea breezes, and that it is just as applicable to those situations to improve efficiency. It requires a small power input, but solar power in the desert is a natural anyway.

[thorny locust]

Hi ATNM!

That does sound like a neat idea.

Does distillation remove all contaminants, though? -- a fast google tells me the answer is no. I don't know whether any of the likely contaminants from power plants vaporize in the wrong temperature range; or, if so, whether they can be readily gotten out by other means.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Whether contaminants are an issue would depend on how the power plant uses the water, I'd expect. As well as where the water comes from in the first place.

AFAIK, the major environmental issue with water from power plants is its temperature (hence cooling towers).

Oh, and Hi! Mack.
Seaboe

Seaboe