Conceptual water bottle filters saltwater into drinking water

Like movies, scientific concepts often become reality.  One such possibility is Puri's desalinating water bottle.

Though it is a concept design only, the function is outlined by designers Younsun Kim, Kangkyung Lee, Byungsoo Kim and Minji Kim.

They explain that the water is filtered by pressurization through a hand pump

 

 

The water is pressed through a filter at the bottom and the salt is removed through reverse osmosis.  Critis have pointed out that you would need 600-1200 psi to make it work, but the hand pump cannot generate that much.  A conventional bike pump generates only around 150 psi.

Some might call it a pipe dream, others may say the technology is not quite at the level it needs to be to make it work.  The concept is ideal though; being able to scoop up salt water and hand pump it to purity (even if aided by a machine of some sort).  New filters are being produced, like porous graphene, which is known to desalinate water 1,000x faster than reverse osmosis techniques, so this may not be far off.

Here is a melodramatic promotional video for the Puri; the designers made it really intense

 

Image Credit: http://inhabitat.com/puri-desalinating-water-bottle-could-save-your-life-at-sea/