With water everywhere and still not enough for Greece to drink, a pilot project by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki offers some hope. Researchers at the Department of Chemical Engineering are refining designs on a small desalinisation unit whose use could become widespread.

Even in the Middle East, where the conversion of seawater into fresh water is perhaps most widespread, desalinisation is generally performed in large, electricity-generated plants. The Thessaloniki project offers a challenging alternative solution: small, environmentally friendly desalinisation units, fuelled by abundant wind and sun.

In the pilot unit, located at the Anghelohori naval base in Thessaloniki, water is boiled and cleansed through an intricate system of pipes, with pressure and temperature closely controlled. Reverse osmosis (i.e. the separation of salt and water through a membrane) is encouraged as a wind-powered compressor keeps the pressure low while solar panels provide the heat.

In 1996 the European Union funded development of the project as a part of its INCO research and technology development programme which seeks to encourage international cooperation.

Thus, University of Thessaloniki researchers (led by Prodromos Bekiaroglou) and Thessaloniki investors Dimman Consulting collaborated with related organisations - such as Jordan's Royal Scientific Society, Portugal's Electricidade de Portugal and Cyprus' Nicosia Higher Technical Institute - in an effort to develop units for the drought relief of isolated places.

Funded by the EU's 4th Community Support Framework Programme, the project officially ended last year with the construction of a pilot unit in Thessaloniki and in Southern Jordan. Work, though, is far from done. This year the Thessaloniki unit yielded 100m2 of water - clearly a drop in the ocean of what is required to make an impact. Yet University of Thessaloniki researchers, under the leadership of Professor Michalis Stoukides, aim at the ultimate development of a project so that it can become available commercially.

* How the unit works *
1) Seawater is collected in a small well.
2) The seawater is fed into a tube system. (Each 5-metre-in-diameter plastic tube contains 70 smaller polypropylene tubes).
3) The heating and compression of the water takes place. Two solar panels boil the water in the tubes system, while a 4.5 kW windmill drives a compressor, which compresses the steam.
4) Pressure is held so low that the seawater boils. The resulting steam is sent through the pipes.
5) Reverse osmosis, or the isolation of salt from fresh water through a membrane, takes place.
6) Fresh water is finally collected.