Illinois professor Praveen Kumar leads research on untapped freshwater sources

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU

An Indian American professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is leading pathbreaking research into sources of freshwater. The study, led by civil and environmental engineering professor and Prairie Research Institute executive director Praveen Kumar, evaluated 14 water-stressed locations across the globe for the feasibility of a hypothetical structure capable of capturing water vapor from above the ocean and condensing it into fresh water – and do so in a manner that will remain feasible in the face of continued climate change.

“Eventually, we will need to find a way to increase the supply of fresh water as conservation and recycled water from existing sources, albeit essential, will not be sufficient to meet human needs. We think our newly proposed method can do that at a large scale,” said Illinois professor Praveen Kumar.

Kumar, a graduate student Afeefa Rahman and atmospheric sciences professor Francina Dominguez have published their findings in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Kumar holds a B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India 1987, M.S. from Iowa State University 1989, and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota 1993, all in civil engineering. Kumar joined as a faculty at the University of Illinois in 1995 where he has been since.

Prior to joining the University of Illinois, he was a research scientist (January 1993 to July 1995) at the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and Hydrologic Sciences Branch, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.

His research deals with Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding, and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation, and human systems; and how this understanding can be used for innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges.

His latest study points towards the almost limitless supply of fresh water that exists in the form of water vapor above Earth’s oceans yet remains untapped, researchers said. The new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the first to suggest an investment in new infrastructure capable of harvesting oceanic water vapor as a solution to limited supplies of fresh water in various locations around the world. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Lovell Professorship in the department of civil and environmental engineering, The University Scholar Program, and the National Science Foundation supported this research.

“Water scarcity is a global problem and hits close to home in the US regarding the sinking water levels in the Colorado River basin, which affects the whole Western US,” Kumar said. “However, in subtropical regions, like the Western US, nearby oceans are continuously evaporating water because there is enough solar radiation due to the very little cloud coverage throughout the year.”

Previous wastewater recycling, cloud seeding, and desalination techniques have met only limited success, the researchers said. Though deployed in some areas across the globe, desalination plants face sustainability issues because of the brine and heavy metal-laden wastewater produced. This is one of the primary factors that has led California to recently reject measures to add new desalination plants.

“Eventually, we will need to find a way to increase the supply of fresh water as conservation and recycled water from existing sources, albeit essential, will not be sufficient to meet human needs. We think our newly proposed method can do that on large scales,” Kumar said.

The researchers performed atmospheric and economic analyses of the placement of hypothetical offshore structures 210 meters in width and 100 meters in height. Through their analyses, the researchers concluded that capturing moisture over ocean surfaces is feasible for many water-stressed regions worldwide. The estimated water yield of the proposed structures could provide fresh water for large population centers in the subtropics.

One of the more robust projections of climate change is that dry regions will get drier, and wet areas will get wetter. “The current regions experiencing water scarcity will likely be even drier in the future, exacerbating the problem,” Dominguez said. “And unfortunately, people continue moving to water-limited areas, like the Southwestern US.”

However, this projection of increasingly arid conditions favors the new ocean vapor-harvesting technology.

“The climate projections show that the oceanic vapor flux will only increase over time, providing even more fresh water supply,” Rahman said. “So, the idea we are proposing will be feasible under climate change. This provides a much-needed and effective approach for adaptation to climate change, particularly to vulnerable populations living in arid and semi-arid regions of the world.”

The researchers said one of the more elegant features of this proposed solution is that it works like the natural water cycle.

“The difference is that we can guide where the evaporated water from the ocean goes,” Dominguez said. “When Praveen approached me with this idea, we both wondered why nobody had thought about it before because it seemed like such an obvious solution. But it hasn’t been done before, and I think it is because researchers are so focused on land-based solutions – but our study shows other options do, in fact, exist.”

The researchers said this study opens the door for novel infrastructure investments that can effectively address the increasing global scarcity of fresh water.

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