Sea level rise means fresh groundwater will increasingly become salty.
Sea level rise means fresh groundwater will increasingly become salty. Yat Li explains how his novel 3D-printed desalination tool can offer a solution.
In many areas of the world, including California, the demand for freshwater exceeds supply, and the effects of climate change are exacerbating the issue. More frequent and longer periods of drought mean communities that depend on rainfall for freshwater, such as Santa Cruz, are increasingly at risk of completely or severely depleting their freshwater supply. Additionally, as sea levels continue to rise in the coming decades, salt water is expected to intrude into fresh groundwater sources along the coasts, rendering the water undrinkable.
In response to this pending crisis, UC Santa Cruz chemistry and biochemistry professor Yat Li is working on a logical solution for creating a sustainable freshwater supply: desalinization.
There are a few ways to remove salt from seawater, but Li and his colleagues are focused on a method called capacitive deionization, which uses electrochemical technology. This method is particularly efficient for removing low amounts of salt from slightly salty, or brackish water, such as would be the case with contaminated groundwater supplies in coastal communities. With support from UCSC’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, Li’s team is applying 3D printing techniques to fabricate a scalable apparatus with high desalination efficiency.
Read More: University of California – Santa Cruz
Photo Credit: Pixabay
