An update on 2014 finalist Desolenator:
affordable clean water for a billion people by 2035.

"The competition was our ticket to accelerate things."

Using nothing but sunlight, Desolenator turns polluted or salty water into enough drinking water for a small family. Water heats up on the solar panel until it's boiling. Salt and heavy metals like arsenic are filtered out, the result is clean drinking water. We thought it was high time to catch up with what they’ve been up to recently.

After coming in second at our 2014 Grand Final Desolenator completed a crowdfunding campaign in January 2015 that raised $155k. They partnered up with Liverpool University, Imperial College Incubator, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), College of Engineering Trivandrum (India), the RSA and Impact Hub Westminster.

Getting ready to launch

“We aim to reach one billion people with our technology
by 2035.”

Alexei Levene – one of Desolenator’s founders: “Currently, we’re in product development process. We will launch our first product at the end of 2017 or early 2018. We’re project testing in Odisha - North Asia, in Kenya and in Honduras. We just completed another fund raise and we’re now going into production, verification and getting ready to launch. We aim to reach one billion people with our technology by 2035.”

They featured in media such as The Guardian, BBC News and the Huffington Post. They’ve won awards from NASA, Singularity University, Index and Everline Future 50 and just won Pitch at the Palace – a prestigious UK initiative by Prince Andrew.

So, yes, it’s safe to say they’re well on their way to global impact. Their patented technology is the most affordable and environmentally friendly method of water purification.

Clean water for 1 cent per litre

“It made us challenge our
idea and ourselves.”

Turning saltwater into clean drinking water is usually an expensive and energy-intensive process. Desalination plants can have price tags around $1 billion, and smaller devices can cost up to $30k (source: Fast Company).

Desolenator makes the process affordable for the millions of people around the world who don't have running water. The price with Desolenator’s device is coming down to 1 cent per litre of clean water. Their device gives families water independence for up to 20 years without any requirement to be connected to the grid.

“Our technology harnesses the power of the sun to transform salt water into drinking water, says Alexei. “97% of the world’s water is saline and with population growth and climate change, water is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.”