In United Arab Emirates a startup called Manhat has developed water distillation plants that produce no waste because of their open-top design. Traditionally, desalination produces substantial amounts of salty brine that must either be treated or used in a way that avoids creating pollution. Manhat’s design, on the other hand, uses an open-topped pyramid shape with collection barrels for gathering the condensed water from the sides of the container.
Water naturally evaporates from the world’s oceans, and Manhat’s design takes advantage of that process by coupling it with another free resource – sunlight. Requiring no electricity or power of any kind, the distillation plants are designed for ease of use, portability and affordability. Island and coastal countries are ideally situated to benefit from the technology.
Manhat is also developing floating farm solutions that will benefit coastal cities where the looming threat of rising sea levels due to climate change is especially high.
The company is experimenting with three meters by three-meter and one-and-a-half meter square versions and says that it plans to standardize the final product for ease of production and scalability. The company holds several patents for the design with the Gulf Cooperation Council and plans an initial expansion into Singapore.
Clean water is still inaccessible for millions of people even here in the Philippines.
