That was interesting and basically displayed a complicated expensive system that sort of works. We really need a fresh look at this problem. Perhaps instead of reverse osmosis, we use the distillation process to acquire fresh water. For example, maybe we could pump salt water from the ocean to the nearby desert and then somehow use free sun energy to distill fresh water vapor into tubes or vessels and then somehow collect and condense the water vapor into drinking water. Or maybe you could have some sort of large drying pan contraption sitting above the ocean that rotates drying pans in and out of the ocean. Anyway, just throwing out a few ideas that might be simpler or less costly. Thanks for posting.
Distillation requires much more energy, but it can be viable with solar power as you suggest.
Distillation has been used for hundreds (or thousands) of years to get freshwater from saltwater. The big problem apparently is the leftover brine, which is difficult and costly to dispose at scale. In RO there is also leftover brine but it is not nearly as concentrated, and is suitable to discharge right back into the ocean in the right circumstances, even at scale.
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