Sustainability
Oneka Technologies Desalination Solution to Water Scarcity
Oneka Technologies
An exciting new marine technology may soon provide enough fresh water to supply entire cities… And it comes directly from the ocean.
Oneka Technologies, a Canadian start-up, has developed a new system for converting undrinkable seawater into clean freshwater to combat shortages around the world. The Oneka Water Desalination Machine is already filling up water reservoirs in places such as California and Chile with plans to spread much further.
The World’s Fresh Water Crisis
Without fresh water, we can’t survive, but the truth is, there simply isn’t enough to go around. Less than 3% of Earth’s water is drinkable. If the world’s water supply was represented by a volume of 100 litres, our drinkable, freshwater supply would amount to only half a teaspoon.
Not only that but in 2023, we used up a year’s worth of the Earth’s resources in just 7 months. With what little there is, we still waste a lot, and that’s exactly why a sustainable desalination process is so critical to finding a way to use that huge supply of seawater.
A water shortage is very real. There have been some things going on, recently, that have added to this shortage:
- Droughts and Climate Change
In recent years, increased global warming has aggravated the water situation, causing droughts, erratic rainfall, and evaporating water much more quickly. - Poor Water Management
In a world where resources are limited, appropriate and effective water management systems are vital. However, we don’t always hit the mark. Too often, political battles and financial issues overshadow the question of basic human needs.
- Water Pollution
More than 80% of the world’s used, dirty water is washed back into the environment without being cleaned or treated. This water is tainted with everything from sewage and pesticides to detergents. This reduces our already limited water supply.
What is the Oneka Desalination Machine?
Oneka’s new machine is a sustainable, carbon-free solution to the global water crisis. It’s an amazing new system that can turn large amounts of seawater into drinkable freshwater without any disruption to the environment.
Oneka’s impressive mission is “…making the oceans a sustainable and affordable source of water.”
No easy task to be sure, but a motivational one, nonetheless.
Modern Desalination Technology
There are two traditional methods in use in desalination plants around the world.
- Thermal Distillation: This process involves vaporizing the seawater, causing the water to naturally separate from the salt. Then the water can be processed into a drinkable state. This process, though less expensive than other traditional methods, is energy-intensive and produces a lower quality of water than other methods can offer.
- Reverse Osmosis: This multi-step process works by essentially straining seawater through a membrane with holes big enough for water to pass through, but too small for salt to permeate. After some more treatment, the system produces a supply of drinkable water.
Although these methods are in widespread use, they are not the most desirable approach. They both burn fossil fuels, producing the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. These methods are also expensive and, in the end, they produce wastewater that is salty enough to destroy marine life.
How Does the Oneka Desalination Solution Work?
Oneka’s machines are buoyant units anchored to the sea bed in areas with lots of wave action. They use the power of waves that are a minimum of 1 m high to draw in seawater. The bobbing motion of the buoys riding the waves pushes the collected water through a reverse osmosis desalination system built right into the buoy. Wave power then pumps the fresh water back to a land-based plant.
How Do Oneka Buoys Differ from Other Desalination Solutions?
The wastewater that comes from the desalination process that the Oneka system creates is a fraction as salty as what is created by traditional methods. When poured out into the open ocean, it dissipates quickly and causes no harm to the sea life. Moreover, the desalination process happens as part of the Oneka system. This greatly reduces the emissions caused by conventional reverse osmosis operations.
How Much Water Can the Oneka Desalination Machine Provide?
The machines come in three different sizes.
- The Ice Cube Class is the smallest model. Focused on disaster situations, this unit can produce 1 m3, or about 1000 litres of fresh water each day.
- The Iceberg Class is a mid-sized unit that can be used to supply resorts and coastal communities. It can produce as much as 50 m3 of freshwater per day. That’s about 50,000 litres.
- Still under development is the Glacier Class unit. This will be Oneka’s biggest buoy with a capacity to produce 500 m3, or about 500,000 litres of fresh water in a single day. That’s enough to provide for an entire city.
Could Oneka Water Technology be the Solution to Water Scarcity?
While Oneka Technologies’ desalination solution is currently experimental, a community of Oneka desalination buoys could potentially curb water scarcity. Only time will tell how impactful this new technology will be in the efforts to end the world water crisis, but the potential applications are endless.
During the August 2022 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, the water supply became depleted and firefighters were left to watch helplessly as the fires consumed the city. Although the Island is surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean, saltwater is not usable for fires of this magnitude as it corrodes metal firefighting equipment and sucks all the moisture out of the soil it saturates, making it impossible for plant life to regenerate.
A few years earlier, in 2018, the water supply for Cape Town, South Africa ran so low that only strict water usage regulations prevented it from becoming the first major, modern city centre to run entirely out of water. Although this city of over four million people sits on the shores of the South Atlantic Ocean, none of that water was of any help due to its salt content.
Imagine how differently these stories could have ended if the Oneka Desalination Solution had been at work.
Now Imagine what a community of interceptors will do working side-by-side with these Buoys. Interceptors are AI robots created by Ocean Cleanup that can clean up 50,000 km of trash from oceans a day. On one hand, you create fresh water, and on the other hand, you clean up oceans.
All of a sudden, we have ourselves a pretty inspirational world right here. Not a bad deal at all!
IC Inspiration
“No one should have to worry if the water is clean or if they will run out of water. No child should grow up not knowing what clean water is or never knowing what running water is. We all have a right to this water as we need it.”
These are the words of 13-year-old Autumn Pelletier in a passionate speech to the world leaders of the UN in 2018.
Most people would never guess she was talking about Canada.
In one of the most water-secure countries on the planet, many of us take for granted that every time we turn on the tap, high-quality, clean, healthy water will come flowing out. But in some parts of the country, fresh water is a luxury.
According to the Government of Canada’s Indigenous Services, over two dozen reservations have Long-Term Drinking Water Advisories (LT-DWAs) in effect. They are in every province, as far south as the US border, and sometimes situated not too far from such heavily populated areas as Toronto and Vancouver.
Yet, thanks to antiquated laws, funding for updated infrastructure and equipment has, too often, been withheld. Some of these communities sit on the shores of large, freshwater lakes. However, a lack of money for water treatment equipment prevents them from using even one drop of gallons of freshwater sitting right outside their back doors.
Autumn is an Anishinaabe girl from Wikwemikong First Nation, a small community on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, Ontario. She is a water activist who has traveled from her home to places as diverse as New York, to speak to the UN and Sweden where she attended the 2015 Children’s Climate Conference. She’s been nominated for awards and spoken to such high-ranking people as Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
But she’s not interested in fame or status. She calls herself a water-keeper, and her mission is to fight for the rights, not just of the people, but of the water itself.
“Many people don’t think water is alive or has a spirit,” She explained to the UN leaders, “My people believe this to be true.”
She believes the water should be treated with respect. Its rights should be recognized and honoured, just as they are for people and animals.
Although a few years have passed since her speech before the UN, Autumn’s fight is far from over. She’s now the Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation. She continues to bring attention to the troubling water situation in many ways. She’s continued to speak at large gatherings and has been featured in MacLean’s magazine’s Top 50 Canadian Power List. She’s even created a documentary movie on the subject, which has been shown on HBO.
The world’s water crisis may seem daunting; however, it’s comforting to know that, when that day comes when everyone can easily reach a glass of cool water, we’ll have inspiring people like Autumn Pelletier to thank for it.