Gleaming: The Pipe that Makes Salt Water Potable
It is a well-known fact that drinking water is becoming scarcer and therefore more precious. More and more ideas are being developed to solve, or at least address, this problem. One contribution – from the engineers and designers at the Canadian office Khalili Engineers – has made it to the final round in the LAGI initiative.
Designers, architects and engineers were invited to submit projects for California, an area that suffers from water shortages. Each project had to present suitable methods of generating energy, collecting water or, ideally, both. The Pipe is a perfect choice: on the one hand, the construction is operated with solar energy; it also functions as a floating desalination plant. Not only does the Pipe remove the salt from 4.5 billion litres of water a year, it generates 10,000 megawatts of electricity to boot.
Apart from these useful functions, the Pipe is pretty easy on the eye: the shimmering, gleaming construction has what it takes to become yet another highlight on the California coast. If the project is implemented, the Pipe will be set up in the ocean off Santa Monica. The winners of the competition will be announced at the beginning of October.
Gallery
