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That's the point. Devices like this are a way for people to be able to make their own fresh drinking water without needing a functioning state around them.

salty_biscuits 4y ago
This is a good point but a sad situation. Without a functional state there are many other problems as well.
- doctor_eval 4y ago
  None of which will be solved while the people on the ground are dying of dehydration.
- Adiqq 4y ago
  Even with functional state, lack of access to clean water might be new risk due to climate changes and general world instability. What if, prices of clean water will rise due to some events? Today we have energy crisis in Europe and who would expect 5 or 10 years ago that situation will go that bad, that rationing of energy will be considered? There are already some predictions that water scarcity problem will get worse, so it's very good that there are already prototypes that might provide cheap conversion of salt water to clean water. Future seems to be about minimizing costs and decentralization, so we can better sustain all people and save environment.
  - blackshaw 4y ago
    > There are already some predictions that water scarcity problem will get worse That's putting it mildly. I recommend the book "When the Rivers Run Dry" if you feel like you don't have enough reasons to despair.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    Possibly the main problem, as alluded to by the original comment, is political in nature and, is that 'rationing' was never considered possible, even for expensive, polluting, imported materials. If it had, we'd have used less of them and used more alternatives like insulation. Just like farmers would use less water if they had some incentive to use less than every bit they could get their hands on.
- afarrell 4y ago
  Making a functional state requires solving logistics problems. Or as Napoleon said: “An army marches on its stomach”.
AstralStorm 4y ago
As long as you're living on the coast. The saltwater piping (and especially pumps if needed) does not build or maintain itself, and this filter is unnecessary for river, well or rain water. It may be useful for salt lakes, but these are likely to go first. If you really need it for some reason, solar or other distillation is good enough on small scale.

salty_biscuits 4y ago

This is a good point but a sad situation. Without a functional state there are many other problems as well.

doctor_eval 4y ago
None of which will be solved while the people on the ground are dying of dehydration.
Adiqq 4y ago
Even with functional state, lack of access to clean water might be new risk due to climate changes and general world instability. What if, prices of clean water will rise due to some events? Today we have energy crisis in Europe and who would expect 5 or 10 years ago that situation will go that bad, that rationing of energy will be considered? There are already some predictions that water scarcity problem will get worse, so it's very good that there are already prototypes that might provide cheap conversion of salt water to clean water. Future seems to be about minimizing costs and decentralization, so we can better sustain all people and save environment.
- blackshaw 4y ago
  > There are already some predictions that water scarcity problem will get worse That's putting it mildly. I recommend the book "When the Rivers Run Dry" if you feel like you don't have enough reasons to despair.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  Possibly the main problem, as alluded to by the original comment, is political in nature and, is that 'rationing' was never considered possible, even for expensive, polluting, imported materials. If it had, we'd have used less of them and used more alternatives like insulation. Just like farmers would use less water if they had some incentive to use less than every bit they could get their hands on.
afarrell 4y ago
Making a functional state requires solving logistics problems. Or as Napoleon said: “An army marches on its stomach”.

AstralStorm 4y ago

As long as you're living on the coast. The saltwater piping (and especially pumps if needed) does not build or maintain itself, and this filter is unnecessary for river, well or rain water. It may be useful for salt lakes, but these are likely to go first. If you really need it for some reason, solar or other distillation is good enough on small scale.