Water Technology Gets Creative By Air, Land, and Sea
Necessity is the mother of invention, and there is a global need for a lot of water.
Though natural global freshwater resources are declining — and will likely continue to do so, given population increases and climate change trends — a growing water tech industry could augment supplies, improve quality, and make management more efficient.
The newest batch of innovations to surface include:
- Water-producing wind turbines, unveiled by French company Eole Water last week, that could produce up to 1,000 liters (264 gallons) of water each day from moisture content in the air
- A genetically engineered soybean that needs only 500 millimeters (20 inches) of rain each year
- River ‘respirators’ that will provide oxygen to fish in Georgia’s Savannah River
Here are a few more innovative water supply solutions that Circle of Blue has reported on:
Click the first image above to read a first-hand report on the NEWater recycling plant in Singapore, where Circle of Blue’s director, J. Carl Ganter, visited in 2010. Click the second image above to read an article by my colleague Brett Walton on an ancient desalination technology that is getting new use to grow food in the desert of the Western U.S.
So what’s next? Do you know of cool new water technology, or have your own great ideas? Contact Codi Yeager
–Codi Yeager
Circle of Blue reporter
A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek
That’s great invention. These kind of steps are very much necessary in saving the most precious natural resource, i.e water, on earth. These days, many countries are facing water scarcity problems, so these techniques would be a great step in resolving those scarcity issues.