Background Information

Left, map of N.Chile. Right, Map of Atacama Desert

A prominent feature of northern Chile is the Atacama Desert, one of the driest environments known to man. The desert covers over 100,000 square kilometres and is the chief aspect that distinguishes northern Chile from the rest of the country. Known as the driest place on earth, the Atacama averages only one millimetre of rainfall per annum, with some weather reporting stations having no record of rain at all. This aridity is caused by a confluence of events. One factor is the Andean altitude blocking clouds from reaching the Atacaman basin (they simply gather on the opposite side of the Andean ridge - they cannot gain enough height to surmount the world's longest mountain range). This lack of clouds results in permanently clear and sunny skies for the Atacama region, which causes chronic droughts.
Another, more technical cause of this aridity is the phenomenon of  the cold Humboldt current and South Pacific high pressure zone forming an inversion layer (a region which does not adhere to the usual altitude/temperature relationship), making it difficult for clouds to condense. At other places in the world with similar altitude, clouds can be seen, but due to this colder current interacting with South Pacific air, water cannot condense at normal levels.

Main: the coast town of Inquique. Left Inset: Aerial of the Andes. Right Inset: A dried riverbed in Atacama

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Children at a festival celebrating San Pedro

However, though this place seems highly inhospitable to life, people have lived clustered around the edges of the desert and at small, far-flung oases since pre-Columbian times. These tiny towns have enjoyed little growth or prosperity, however - the largest, San Pedro de Atacama, has just under 5,000 residents. The people are proud and hardy, used to tough living. Most work in mining - copper, sodium nitrate, or silver, among others, but in some of the larger towns, archeological tourism is also a growing business. The reason that these towns are not prospering, however, is due to clashes over the region's most precious resource – water.


Top Left: the strength of the Atacaman people. Top Right: A typical isolated Atacaman dwelling.
Bottom: An Atacaman house near a saline lagoon.



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Main: a chlorine-polluted river by a Chilean mine. Left Inset: Trucks en route to a copper mine.
Right Inset: A typical Atacaman copper mine

 The small freshwater oases that these towns formed around are running out, due to increased demand as population slowly rises. Furthermore, the mining companies have secured the water rights to several water sources, and dam or pollute the sources, leaving the villagers with no choice but to import fresh water. Since many towns simply cannot afford the expense of trucking in potable water, the citizens simply pack up and move, leaving a ghost town behind. This is harming not only the local economy and society, but also the economy of the rest of Chile, particularly the cities. When the Atacaman people can no longer make a living in their homes, they flock to the cities, almost refugees - not of war, but of the desert and the mining companies. These migrants put a strain on all of Chile, not to mention what the phenomenon does to the pride and livelihoods of those displaced. However, if the villagers could find a way to desalinate the salt water that is abundant in this region -  from Pacific inlets, lagoons, and salt lakes -  they could maintain their way of life and perhaps even start thriving and growing. The conventional large-scale reverse osmosis and flash-distillation plants that much of southern urban Chile favors are not feasible here - they are too expensive, use too much infrastructure and result in too little payoff. However, a small-scale personal desalinating device with minimal power uptake and easily accessible materials is the perfect solution for the problem. Dozens could be distributed throughout the town, and suddenly any water could become potable, given enough time.With this in mind, our group is striving to construct a compact, efficient distillation-based home desalination device.


Main: An Atacaman ghost town. Inset: A copper mine polluting a river

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Top Left: Sleekness, hiding the working parts. Bottom Left: The iPad is the epitome of intuituve design.
Right: Ease of use demonstrated with a WaterCone

 Since the Atacaman people, our potential customers, are mostly working-class and have rudimentary educations, this device needs to project an aura of simplicity and streamlined efficiency without including too much maintenance or technicality. Moving parts should not be visible, and the entire operation should be conducted within the machine, leaving only a polished façade for outsiders to view. Owning a desalination unit should be as simple as adding water every morning and taking it out as needed. Operating the machine should be intuitive and user-friendly. Also, since the unit (at least the desalinating portion) will be kept outside, it should be unobtrusive, so it does not clash with the outside decorations of the homeowner. If the unit is inconspicuous, the customer will want to place it in full sunlight, which will increase its efficiency. Overall, the more simplistic and sleek we can make this device, the better.

Left: This sleek espresso maker hides its workings.
Right: An unobtrusive rain barrel disguised as a planter

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Left: Exploded view of SeaKettle. Right: Conceptualization of SeaKettle

There are several devices that are designed for desalination, but few are suitable for the home. As previously mentioned, many require large-scale, centralized facilities, but there are some previously imagined solutions that would serve our purpose. One is the SeaKettle life raft, which uses solar distillation to glean freshwater from brackish ocean water. However, this is too complicated to use on land, for it has many unnecessary flotation devices and frills that the Atacaman people do not need and would only find cumbersome. Another unit that has been successful on the small scale in some African countries (like Malawi) is the Watercone, which is another solar-still-type desalination device that can turn small amounts of saltwater into potable drinking water. The yield is very small though, and is mainly used to sustain individual children, not entire families. We hope to build on these technologies by making the unit more productive, efficient and self-sufficient, which will increase quality of life for these Atacaman people.



Top Left: A sketch of a Watercone. Bottom Left: Collecting the fresh water
Right: Two WaterCones in use

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