To quench an annual 7 billion cubic meter (247 billion cubic foot) shortfall, the country has looked to desalination, which is energy-intensive and expensive. Now, researchers from Alexandria University have developed a technique for desalinating and cleaning water that uses less than half the energy of current desalination methods, making it potentially cheap enough as a viable fresh water source.

The researchers used a pervaporation method, which pushes pressurized sea water through a membrane that retains salt, before being vaporized by heat in a second purification step. Key to their breakthrough process was the development of a polymer membrane made up of five ingredients commonly available in the region, including cellulose acetate powder, which binds to the salt particles as the water passes through the membrane. The ingredients are cheap and easily produced in a lab, and require minimal power to be effective.