Last fall, an Erie, Pennsylvania (USA) man claimed to have used radio waves to liberate hydrogen and oxygen from saltwater. In fact that’s exactly what he did; the real question at hand is one of thermodynamics. Namely did he use more energy than he obtained from the reaction?

Understandably, it’s very easy to be excited about this new discovery; it has the potential to revolutionize the world. Of particular note to the water industry is that this device would use the waste product of desalination operations around the world – highly concentrated salt water. This waste product contains so much salt that it is environmentally irresponsible to return it to the local ocean waters over concerns that the high concentrations of salt would alter the local seawater chemistry. To be able to actually use this waste product, let alone use it to power the societies around our world, would be wonderful. More…