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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
06:39
A High Performance Impedance-based Platform for Evaporation Rate Detection
Published on: October 17, 2016
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Assessing global drinking water potential from electricity-free solar water evaporation device
Wei Zhang1,2,3, Yongzhe Chen4, Qinghua Ji5
1Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Nature Communications
|August 8, 2024
Summary
Solar water evaporation (SWE) can provide safely managed drinking water (SMDW) to 95.8% of unserved populations. This technology offers a cost-effective solution to achieve universal SMDW access by 2030.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Water Resource Management
- Sustainable Technology
Background:
- Universal access to safely managed drinking water (SMDW) is a global challenge, with UN Sustainable Development Goals-6.1 aiming for universal coverage by 2030.
- Current projections indicate only 81% global SMDW coverage by 2030, highlighting a significant gap.
- Solar water evaporation (SWE) is a potential decentralized water purification method, but its global scalability for SMDW remains uncertain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the global potential of condensation-enhanced solar water evaporation (SWE) technology for providing SMDW.
- To determine the feasibility of SWE in meeting the drinking water demands of unserved populations without external electricity.
- To evaluate the cost-effectiveness and impact of SWE on achieving Sustainable Development Goals-6.1.
Main Methods:
- Development of a physics-guided machine learning model to evaluate SWE performance.
- Utilizing a condensation-enhanced strategy to optimize water evaporation and collection.
- Calculating the potential water output of a 1 m² SWE device and its capacity to serve populations lacking SMDW.
Main Results:
- A condensation-enhanced SWE device (1 m²) can supply 2.5 L/day of drinking water, meeting the needs of 95.8% of the population currently lacking SMDW.
- SWE technology can achieve universal SMDW coverage by 2030.
- Implementing SWE requires an annual investment of $10.4 billion, representing a 66.7% cost saving compared to current investments.
Conclusions:
- Condensation-enhanced SWE is a viable technology for decentralized water purification.
- SWE can significantly contribute to achieving universal and equitable access to affordable SMDW, fulfilling SDG-6.1.
- SWE offers a cost-effective and sustainable solution for global water security challenges.
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