Zhang Wei, Chen Yongzhe, Ji Qinghua, Fan Yuying, Zhang Gong, Lu Xi, Hu Chengzhi, Liu Huijuan, Qu Jiuhui
Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 8;15(1):6784. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51115-0.
Universal and equitable access to affordable safely managed drinking water (SMDW) is a significant challenge and is highlighted by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals-6.1. However, SMDW coverage by 2030 is estimated to reach only 81% of the global population. Solar water evaporation (SWE) represents one potential method to ensure decentralized water purification, but its potential for addressing the global SMDW challenge remains unclear. We use a condensation-enhanced strategy and develop a physics-guided machine learning model for assessing the global potential of SWE technology to meet SMDW demand for unserved populations without external electricity input. We find that a condensation-enhanced SWE device (1 m) can supply enough drinking water (2.5 L day) to 95.8% of the population lacking SMDW. SWE can help fulfill universal SMDW coverage by 2030 with an annual cost of 10.4 billion U.S. dollars, saving 66.7% of the current investment and fulfilling the SDG-6.1 goal.
普遍且公平地获取负担得起的安全管理饮用水（SMDW）是一项重大挑战，联合国可持续发展目标6.1对此予以强调。然而，预计到2030年，SMDW的覆盖范围仅能达到全球人口的81%。太阳能水蒸发（SWE）是确保分散式水净化的一种潜在方法，但其应对全球SMDW挑战的潜力仍不明确。我们采用一种冷凝增强策略，并开发了一个物理引导的机器学习模型，用于评估SWE技术在无外部电力输入情况下满足未获得服务人群SMDW需求的全球潜力。我们发现，一个冷凝增强的SWE装置（1米）能够为95.8%缺乏SMDW的人口提供足够的饮用水（每天2.5升）。SWE能够以每年104亿美元的成本助力在2030年实现普遍的SMDW覆盖，节省当前投资的66.7%，并实现可持续发展目标6.1。
