Researchers at Alexandria University in Egypt have unveiled a cost-effective desalination technology which can filter highly salty water in minutes.

The technology is based on membranes containing cellulose acetate powder, produced in Egypt. The powder, in combination with other components, binds the salt particles as they pass through, making the technique useful for desalinating seawater.

“The membrane we fabricated can easily be made in any laboratory using cheap ingredients, which makes it an excellent option for developing countries,” says Ahmed El-Shafei, an associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering in Alexandria University, and an author of the study. Read more

A team of astronomers has made the first observations with a cutting-edge water-hunting instrument. The instrument, known as the Swedish–ESO PI receiver for APEX (SEPIA), is not only suited for identifying signatures of water and other molecules in the Milky Way but also in other galaxies, and it may even be capable of detecting ancient water dating back to the early Universe.

SEPIA is in essence a highly-sensitive spectrograph calibrated to search for a particular light wavelength (between 1.4 – 1.9 mm) that indicates the presence of water. Mounted aboard the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope, the delicate sensors must be cooled to a temperature only slightly above absolute zero in order to function optimally. Read more

Camping can be fun, but going without the comforts of home isn’t for everybody. So if your idea of roughin’ it for the weekend still includes ice cold water and the ability to charge your phone, the Little Luxury Outdoor Extreme Water Cooler might be for you.

The Little Luxury Cooler is designed to be filled right from a natural water source, thanks to a filter designed to remove the nasties you might encounter drinking straight from a river or lake, and chills the water to a refreshing 43° F (6° C).

According to its inventor, Laurelle Charne, the idea for the water cooler came about during a camping trip that involved lugging big, heavy bottles of water to the site, even though there was a beautiful stream right there. Read more

Researchers from the University of Alexandria have developed a cheaper, simpler and potentially cleaner way to turn seawater into drinking water than conventional methods.

Researchers in Cairo have invented a cheap, simple way to turn seawater into drinking water

This could have a huge impact on rural areas of the Middle East and North Africa, where access to clean water is a pressing issue if social stability and economic development is to improve.

Right now, desalinating seawater is the only viable way to provide water to growing populations, and large desalination plants are now a fact of life in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries.

Most of these plants rely on a multi-step process based on reverse osmosis, which requires expensive infrastructure and large amounts of electricity. These plants release large quantities of highly concentrated salt water and other pollutants back into the seas and oceans as part of the desalination process, creating problems for marine environments. Read more

Liquid water covers some 70 percent of Earth’s surface, making the planet unique in the solar system. But where that water came from has been a bit of a puzzle.

The volcanic plume responsible for the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland has also brought up bits of Earth’s ancient mantle from deep inside the planet.

Early in its history, Earth’s surface was so hot that any water would have evaporated into space. Anything that is here today, scientists have thought, must have come from asteroids or comets that later struck the cooling world.

But maybe not. A new analysis in Science suggests that at least some of Earth’s current moisture derives from water-soaked dust particles trapped deep inside during the planet’s formation. Read more