What is a method to purify ocean water so it can safely be consumed?

Luke Newman

            As we discussed in class, only a very small proportion of the water on the Earth is drinkable water.  Most of it is either sea/ocean water or non-consumable fresh water.  So, what’s one way we can convert our most abundant water source (the ocean) into a pure, consumable type of water?  Researchers at MIT have found a way to use graphene, which is a one-atom thick sheet of carbon, to efficiently (and possibly cheaply) desalinate ocean water.  When water molecules mixed with sodium and chloride ions (salt water) encounter the graphene sheet that is perforated with very small holes, the water molecules are able to pass through, while the ions are filtered out.  Researchers say this technique works hundreds of times faster than currently employed techniques.  The most important part of the process is getting the perforations to be the perfect size.  The ideal size is one nanometer.  If the holes are 0.7 nanometers, even the water won’t be able to pass through.

Chandler, David. "A New Approach to Water Desalination." MIT's News Office. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 01 July 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/graphene-water-desalination-0702.html>.