Necessity is the mother of invention, and there is a global need for a lot of water.

Though natural global freshwater resources are declining — and will likely continue to do so, given population increases and climate change trends — a growing water tech industry could augment supplies, improve quality, and make management more efficient.

The newest batch of innovations to surface include:

• Water-producing wind turbines, unveiled by French company Eole Water last week, that could produce up to 1,000 liters (264 gallons) of water each day from moisture content in the air
• A genetically engineered soybean that needs only 500 millimeters (20 inches) of rain each year
• River ‘respirators’ that will provide oxygen to fish in Georgia’s Savannah River

Here are a few more innovative water supply solutions that Circle of Blue has reported on:

Click the first image above to read a first-hand report on the NEWater recycling plant in Singapore, where Circle of Blue’s director, J. Carl Ganter, visited in 2010. Click the second image above to read an article by my colleague Brett Walton on an ancient desalination technology that is getting new use to grow food in the desert of the Western U.S.

So what’s next? If you know of cool new water technology, or have your own great ideas, comment below or shoot me an e-mail at codi@circleofblue.org.

–Codi Yeager
Circle of Blue reporter

Codi Yeager-Kozacek is a reporter for Circle of Blue based out of Enterprise, Alabama. She studied journalism and biology as an undergraduate at West Virginia University and graduated summa cum laude from the university’s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism. She has done research at the College of the Bahamas Gerace Research Center on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, and her study on coastal dune plants is currently pending publication in the Bahamas Natural History Proceedings. Her interests include food security and ecology. She co-writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Email: Codi Yeager-Kozacek  :: Follow on Twitter :: More Articles

1. 

   Saving Water

   May 10, 2012 at 6:30 am

   That’s great invention. These kind of steps are very much necessary in saving the most precious natural resource, i.e water, on earth. These days, many countries are facing water scarcity problems, so these techniques would be a great step in resolving those scarcity issues.