I took a sip and I didn’t like it at all.

The water was extremely hard.

But fortunately, our company supplied us with 5 litres of mineral water per week to help quench our thirst.

I was fortunate.

But majority aren’t.

HARD WATER

Hard water is a reality facing many households.

Not only is the water rough on the palette,  it is tough to work with especially when doing laundry or dishes.

But the middle class has found a way out of this hard water mess.

BOTTLED WATER

Often we see people packing their trolleys in the supermarket with bottles of mineral water.

While it might pass for one of those items we can pick up the shelves and buy at will, very soon the cost of bottled water might go up due to increased taxes.

So what does this mean?

It means that many middle class households will be left only desiring it because they can’t afford it.

But there is a way out…

an entrepreneurial way for that matter.

FORGET REVERSE OSMOSIS

This water treatment method has been the golden standard for treating water in many bottling companies.

But it comes at a cost…

High power consumption…

Frequent fouling of the treatment filters/ membranes…

How to get rid of the excessive salts produced…

Among others.

Though it’s a golden standard other more affordable techniques are rising to the occasion and are finding space in the market.

CAPACITIVE DEIONIZATION

Hard water has excessive magnesium and calcium ions.

Because these ions are positively charged, they easily migrate to a surface that is negatively charged (unlike poles attract)

So what if we put two surfaces in hard water and connect them to a power source like a battery?

One of the surfaces will be positively charged while the other will be negatively charged.

These two surfaces are called electrodes.

When we connect the circuit, the positive calcium and magnesium ions will move towards the negatively charged electrode.

So over time, if this water is allowed to flow between the electrodes, it will come out softer on the other side (see photo below)

This is how capacitive deionization works.

Several advantages seem to make it a bit better than reverse osmosis:

First, it uses less energy because it requires less than 1.5 volts to operate (especially when treating slightly salty water).

Second, the removed ions could be recovered and reused

Third, it can be used to regenerate energy when the ions are released from the electrodes.

These and other salient features place capacitive deionization as a possible replacement of Reverse Osmosis.

And there are a few start ups in this regard such as Voltea, Atlantis, LogicWater and ElectraMet

But that’s not all.

Capacitive deionization could be used in treatment of wastewater, industrial effluent or even purifying brackish water such as the one found in the Lotikipi aquifer in North Western Kenya.

IN CONCLUSION

The thing with such opportunities is they demand would be entrepreneurs to role up their sleeves, experiment, optimize and test them.

Now that’s a bit of work.

But its possible for one who chooses to cast a vision and pursue it.

After all, water is a scarce commodity today.

So we might as well invest our effort in finding ways to recover it.