Can We Make Ocean Water Drinkable -- and Should We?

We need water to survive--and Earth is covered in it! Unfortunately, almost all of that water is salty. In this week’s episode of Reactions find out why getting freshwater from ocean water is a lot trickier than you might imagine.

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Credits:
Producer: Kirk Zamieroski
Writer: Samantha Jones
Scientific Consultants: John H. Lienhard, PhD
Executive Producer: George Zaidan

Music:
Smidi - Cadillac Candy
Mako Yama - At Starry Night

Sources:

Ever wonder why dogs sniff each others' butts? Or how Adderall works? Or whether it's OK to pee in the pool? We've got you covered: Reactions a web series about the chemistry that surrounds you every day.

[alexisterry]

This video really communicates science effectively. Nice job!

[areamusicale]

it's always about money and money is never enough when it comes to people .... somehow there's always an infinite amount of money when it comes to war, I wonder why.

[DyslexicMitochondria]

Also the cost associated with removing and replacing the clogged semi permeable membrane can not be eliminated.

[tropezando]

Hey, metric friends. 50k gallons is just shy of 19 million liters.

[sevret]

The number one way of making progress, daring Elon Musk to solve the issue.

[christophersmithey]

The salt can be used to power the water purification plant through a sodium reactor.

[trntl]

What if everyone would collect its side product water vapour (cooking shower, general evaporation)
And the heat produced by machines used to purify water Un a global scale?

[manuelberger]

cant we just throw the excessive salt into volcanos? (or even use volcanos energy to drive the osmosis in the first place and then dump the salt in the volcano as well)

[Justin-bvgi]

Regardless of much energy it costs, if like they say we are running out of water, why don’t we just start doing this everywhere? We burn through energy all day anyways wouldn’t hurt to build some reverse osmosis plants everywhere.

[kisanetberhane]

Boil it in a pan and catch the steam from the pan with a flat medal or glass surface. roll those drops to another pan to drink.

[Drow-yr]

I wouldn't know this problem since I live next to one of the best great lakes, Lake superior in all its freshwater glory

[BigTastey]

Video: “Elon are you listening??”

Elon: “no….”

[crywhit]

I love how everything needed to save humanity or our earth falls in Elon's lap...😂

[machninety]

This helps me understand the mirror field that aims all the sunlight at a barrel that has water in it to boil it.

If we figure out how to remove the salt from the ocean water, we could top off all of our reservoirs, mitigate the rise in the sea level, water the deserts and turn them ALL into farmland. We’d had a never ending supply of clean water, a bountiful amount of food for everyone, which honestly is 2 out of the 3 things a human needs to survive. Food and water. Just make sure we don’t harm the air in doing so. The other 1 of the 3 we need. Each one is equally important.

[MarkWhiteartist]

Literally what I was looking for. Specifically why can’t we just boil the ocean water she we need it. Thank you

[docheita]

I wish there was some way to do reverse osmosis and return the water to our deficient lakes.

[Juls]

I dont understand why someone doesnt just use a "greenhouse-like building" made with glass to purify the water. It could then be connected to a tube that is protected from the sun. It would only cost to make the structure and upkeep it. No fuel needed. Just daytime. Even better if they were placed in areas of the earth that have the most daytime.

[JustAnotherMe]

Most power generation plants rely on steam for the turbine, so we are already boiling water there. Can't we use that as distillation plant too?

[MrAMDU]

Also, one of the most important things drinking water does is provide your body with a number of essential minerals that are also lost when distilling

[acommenter]

Isn't brine useful for electrolysis?