06/22/2026
South Korean scientists have developed a way to turn seawater into drinking water using only sunlight.
The system is designed to pull fresh water from the ocean without needing electricity, fuel, or an outside power supply. That makes it especially useful for places where clean water is hard to access.
The work is linked to researchers from the Korea Institute of Energy Research and UNIST, two major South Korean research institutions. Their research focuses on solar desalination, which uses sunlight to separate clean water from salt and other impurities in seawater.
This kind of technology could help coastal communities that live near the ocean but still face water shortages. It could also be valuable after disasters, when power lines, fuel supplies, and water systems are damaged.
If the system can be scaled up, it may offer a simple and cleaner way to produce freshwater from one of the planet's largest resources. The ocean covers about 70 percent of Earth, and sunlight could become a practical key to turning some of that water into something people can safely drink.
