The floating desalination machines powered by the waves

Oneka's floating desalination machines - buoys anchored to the seabed - use a membrane system that is solely powered by the movement of the waves.

The buoys absorb energy from passing waves, and covert it into mechanical pumping forces that draw in seawater and push around a quarter of it through the desalination system. The fresh, drinking water is then pumped to land through pipelines, again only using the power provided by the waves.

"The tech uses no electricity," says Ms Hunt. "It is 100% mechanically driven."

The units require just one metre high waves to work, and the firm hopes that it will start to sell them commercially next year. They come in three sizes, the largest of which is 8m long by 5m wide, and can produce up to 49,000 litres (13,000 US gallons) of drinking water per day.

The brine that is produced is mixed back in with the three quarters of seawater that the buoys pull in but hasn't gone through the membrane. This is then released back into the sea. "It's only about 25% saltier than the original sea water," says Ms Hunt. "It's a much lower concentration of brine compared to traditional desalination methods."

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Taxonomy

• Desalination
• Sea Water Desalinisation
• Sustainable Desalination