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Converting Ocean Water to Freshwater through Cryo-desalination using a Kitchen Freezer: A Novel Approach

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Northwestern Medicine / Feinberg School of Medicine; Lavin Pavilion Floor Suite 1900, 259 East Erie Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60611; US
  • 2Northwestern Medicine / Feinberg School of Medicine; Lavin Pavilion Floor Suite 1900, 259 East Erie Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60611; US

Int. Res. J. Environment Sci., Volume 15, Issue (2), Pages 13-17, April,22 (2026)

Abstract

Currently, 2.2 billion people lack access to drinking water. The 2024 UN Water Development Report predicts that climate change will further increase the frequency and severity of droughts. Our research assesses the feasibility of using a kitchen freezer for converting salt water to drinkable freshwater, and describes a novel approach to cryo-desalination. Ten containers with 200ml ocean water were placed in a kitchen freezer until completely frozen. Ice and brine were separated at 5 minute intervals. Salinity and volume of melted ice were recorded, identifying the sample with lowest salinity. The process was repeated serially for this sample until freshwater was attained. Ocean water salinity equals 32g/L, while freshwater salinity equals <= 1g/L. By 45 minutes of thawing, salinity of melted ice samples dropped 78.1% to 7g/L, with a yield of 143 ml (71.5% of 200 ml). The desalinated sample of ocean water was re-frozen and re-thawed. After a second cycle, salinity of melted ice dropped 86% to 1g/L, yielding 103 ml of melted ice (51.5% of the initial 200 ml). A third cycle of freezing and thawing yielded 56.6ml of melted ice (28.3% of the initial 200ml), with unmeasurable salinity and total dissolved solute level of 90ppm, comparable to tap water. Drinkable freshwater can be practically obtained at home with a kitchen freezer through 2-3 cycles of serial freezing and thawing. This process of cryo-desalination can help alleviate the world’s water shortage crisis. As global water demands increase, it will be critical to further investigate automation and portability of this process.

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