Combating water scarcity: Chilean startup purifies water at low cost to deliver it to the neediest areas

January 22, 2020

Using solar energy and automated control, Chilean entrepreneurs managed to reduce the costs of desalinating seawater and groundwater, making this element 100 times cheaper than a 20-liter drum, and up to 20% cheaper than a water truck, a solution commonly received by the poorest and most drought-affected communities.

The constant heat waves we have experienced in Chile, coupled with the lack of rain, are alarmingly affecting agricultural production and the availability of water in homes.

And the future doesn't look positive at all, as Fabrice Lambert, climatologist and researcher at the UC , confirms : "In the next 50 years we are going to have between 10% and 30% less precipitation than today."

Today, efforts are being made to make water consumption more efficient through remote monitoring, efficient irrigation technologies, and water reuse, but the root problem, the lack of water sources, remains.

According to Pablo Cassorla, an engineer from Columbia University and founder of Remote Waters—a company dedicated exclusively to developing solar-powered desalination plants for underserved communities—"Desalination plants are commonly believed to be expensive due to electricity consumption and maintenance. However, by using solar energy and automated control, we have managed to lower the costs of delivering potable water at almost the same price as tap water. Our system delivers water 100 times cheaper than a 20-liter jug, preventing a household from spending more than 10% of its income on water."

This system could also help to significantly reduce the 8.015 billion pesos that the state spent during 2019 on the purchase of water tanker trucks to bring drinking water to affected areas, according to an analysis by the NGO Fiscal Spending Observatory.

Remote Waters works with two versions of its system. One purifies seawater directly, and the other purifies groundwater. Both purification technologies are membrane-based, and the system is powered by solar panels capable of supplying water to a community of 20 homes. This can be scaled up to 100 homes by simply adding more modules.

One of the most frequently asked questions about desalination plants is what happens to the brine. According to the founder of Remote Waters, most plants return the brine to the sea, which in large quantities can harm marine life if not diluted beforehand. There are several alternative uses for brine, such as dust suppression on unpaved roads, replenishment of infiltration wells, and filling of salt lakes, among others. It's an opportunity that very few have explored, and today this company offers multiple solutions.