The system uses a technique called electrodialysis. In a simple explanation, the salt dissolved in the water turns into particles with positive and negative electric charges. The system works like a magnet, using small electric currents to draw these particles out of the water in order to remove them.
"It works kind of like an electric circuit, the ions get pulled out of the water toward the electrodes," said Natasha Wright, a doctoral student at MIT and one of the creators of the system, to the Boston Globe newspaper. She also pointed out that only 5% of the water is lost in this process.
The desalination is done using a bank of lead-acid batteries that are charged during the day using solar panels which make the invention environmentally safe and self-sustainable. A single desalination unit is capable of supplying enough water to irrigate a small farm or to meet the daily water needs of up five thousand people.
Despite the focus on developing countries, the invention can also be used for large metropolitan areas. Serious problems with water scarcity haunt the state of California in the United States, and they are now facing a major water restriction.
