A fascinating breakthrough from the Indian Institute of Science can make fresh water from sunlight and gravity. 

It's a new take on a standard desalination system that could quench the thirst for some of the world's 4.4 billion people who lack safe drinking water. The setup is particularly effective in remote regions and can make ocean water potable, according to ETV Bharat and research published by Science. 

"This system is said to perform the desalination process faster and more cost-effectively than existing methods," per ETV Bharat. 

Common desalination kits use solar heat or another source, along with a wick, to evaporate and condense water, removing the salt that builds up and clogs the works. The systems have been hard to scale, as well. 

The institute team added a siphon, leveraging gravity to aid the process. A fabric wick pulls water from a salty tank. The water is spread over a grooved, heated metallic surface (ideally heated by solar energy) and cooled on another plate just a fraction of an inch away, causing condensation. Fresh water is collected as a gravity-powered siphon tube supplies water to continuously flush the salt away, preventing buildup, according to ETV Bharat. 

The setup can produce about 1.5 gallons of water per hour for around 11 square feet of surface area under sunlight, beating the performance of standard contraptions. Units can be stacked to recycle heat and maximize efficiency. It's cheap to make from aluminum and cloth and can purify water that contains as much as 20% salt, ETV Bharat added. 

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that an astounding 97% of Earth's water, on and within it, is salty. About 3.5% of the weight of seawater is from the salt it contains, making desalination a vital tool to combat drought-stricken and water-poor places. 

NASA has linked our planet's warming, largely due to continued fossil fuel burning, to greater risks for extreme droughts. The agency said that in this case, higher temperatures cause more water to evaporate from the surface, which is held in the atmosphere, and increases warming in a cycle. It's a problem also impacting the global food supply as plants shrivel. 

That's why researchers elsewhere are working to perfect similar desalination concepts. Experts in Canada are developing filters to purify contaminated underground water, as another example. 

Fresh water is important to ecosystems all over the planet. They not only sustain life, but also prevent erosion and even flooding, according to WWF. Staying informed about how Earth's overheating, coastal flooding, and other factors are impacting our clean water supply is important for raising awareness of efforts to conserve these resources. 

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Smarter water use at home can make a difference and save you money. Rain barrels collect rainwater for use in your gardens and flower beds, helping lower your water bill. Using a dishwasher can cut water use and save more than $200 a year — all while letting the machine do the work for you. 

In the meantime, the research team in India intends to have a reliable way for people in remote areas to filter water so they don't go thirsty as part of potentially life-saving work.

"This innovation could help millions of people who lack access to clean drinking water. Whether in a small village or an island nation, this system could make ocean water a reliable source of fresh water," according to ETV Bharat.

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