Water
University’s solar-powered still improves ancient water cleaning technology
More than two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered with water, but most of it is useless for healthy human hydration. Excluding seawater, glaciers and polar ice caps, less than 1 percent of the planet’s life-sustaining water is in lakes, rivers, streams and underground Read More...
Why dirt will be as valuable as water in a warming world
After five years of historic drought, Californians have come to view water as a valuable natural resource. But there is another resource they probably haven’t thought about that may be just as valuable: Mud. Or more specifically, sediment. Water makes sediment by the process of Read More...
Academics build ultimate solar-powered water purifier
You've seen Bear Grylls turn foul water into drinking water with little more than sunlight and plastic. Now, academics have added a third element—carbon-dipped paper—that may turn this survival tactic into a highly efficient and inexpensive way to turn saltwater and contaminated water into Read More...
Desalination: The oceans hold the answer to the world’s water crisis
Global water usage is growing twice as fast as the population. That’s a problem. There’s, of course, a lot of salt water in the oceans and most people live near coasts. So, can desalination provide an answer to the shortage of drinking water? Desalination is not new. The Romans made drinking Read More...
Is California’s five-year-long intensive drought finally over?
Storm after storm has pummeled California over the past few weeks as a series of so-called atmospheric rivers has come ashore. Given the massive amounts of rain and snow that have fallen, people want to know if California’s five-year-long intensive drought is finally over. The answer, of Read More...
Wars will not be fought over water – our thirst could pave the way to peace
The changing of the guard on the 38th floor of the United Nations has taken place at a time when notions about peace and conflict undergo a subtle change. In particular, the role of resources – especially water – is getting the recognition it deserves, as António Guterres takes Read More...
Next big thing: renewable water desalination
One fun thing about running CleanTechnica for the past 7 years or so has been watching as new innovations and industries pop up, and then navigating the initial players in these nascent markets and trying to find out who is leading and where the market is going. Wind is now a mature market that Read More...
What California can learn from Singapore's brilliant water strategy
All it takes is a glance at Singapore’s water conservation strategy to realize the city-state understands the importance of conserving water. Singapore seems to have a better grasp on water conservation than even California, a state that has suffered six long years of drought and has Read More...
As rains soak California, farmers test how to store water underground
Six years ago, Don Cameron, the general manager of Terranova Ranch, southwest of Fresno, Calif., did something that seemed kind of crazy. He went out to a nearby river, which was running high because of recent rains, and he opened an irrigation gate. Water rushed down a canal and flooded hundreds Read More...
A natural solution to water security
When you turn on the tap in Quito, Ecuador, the water that emerges does so after a long journey. It starts high in the Andes, in springs and streams that merge into rivers, and flows downhill into the watersheds of the Condor Reserve. There, the water filters through cloud forests and grasslands, Read More...