hiraeth555 t1_isnwy9t wrote
Reply to comment by tiregroove in Ultrathin polymer-based ordered membranes that effectively remove salt from seawater and brine could provide a promising alternative to existing water desalination systems by giuliomagnifico
Make those lamps out of the excess salt and give them out for free
SuspiciousStable9649 t1_isnyb2h wrote
Color it sky blue and call it ‘Arabian Salt’.
Edit: but seriously is cheapest to just wash it back out to sea.
Uptown-Dog t1_isox16o wrote
Yeah, we know that's the cheapest option and so that's why everyone does that rn.... Except it kills marine life and creates dead zones where that's done because it's too salty for anything alive.
Garbage_Wizard246 t1_isp1msu wrote
Salt can be used to fuel nuclear reactors and an easy material for batteries. There are other solutions people
Uptown-Dog t1_isp2a08 wrote
I'm all for other solutions. But AFAICS no one doing desalination is getting down to pure salt as it's not cost effective. Rather they stop at "toxic brine". Otherwise I don't see why they couldn't just create and pack all the bricks of salt in a storage setup and work from there.
Garbage_Wizard246 t1_isp5knm wrote
It can be subsidized if the correct supply chain is set up following it. I'm hoping salt batteries take off soon and if we have good infrastructure they can compliment each other in the bid to go green
Tlaughs t1_isqwgpy wrote
Recent research suggest this isn't true if it's pumped out to blue ocean it dilutes to nontoxic levels extremely quickly
Uptown-Dog t1_isqx2u5 wrote
Do you have a link available? Also, how far out qualifies as "blue ocean"? It would almost certainly be contingent upon currents too, as otherwise it would build up? I would also be curious as to how rigorous the science is, as opposed to "we pushed it out of sight and we're bad enough at detecting life there that no one is able to call us out at this stage for killing things there".
Which isn't to say that I'm not encouraged to hear that - and maybe there's an argument to be made that life close to shore is more important than life further out?? - but it needs to be sustainable.
Tlaughs t1_isvuorj wrote
I don't, it came up months ago in a similar post to this one, and they had sources which I do not.
It might very well have been the latter part of what you said, marine life is overwhelmingly close to shore or other landmarks like reefs/wrecks/vents. When it is pumped out into open ocean the currents can fully reach and disperse it, with a fraction of marine life within the (reduced) zone in which the salts are toxic. It all came from the ocean, and despite the massive volumes that are desalinated, it's not a meaningful increase in concentration.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments