Lamp powered by seawater that can shine for 45 days with single refill is helping coastal communities

Clean and renewable sources of energy are what the world needs now. With more of the world becoming environmentally conscious, individuals and companies across the world are looking for innovative ways to power our everyday needs. A Colombian startup company, E-Dina, has come up with a unique salt water-powered lamp as an alternative to solar power. It especially becomes useful for people residing in areas that do not get sun throughout the year.

The ingenious invention called WaterLight has a very simple method of working. All people have to do is pour 500 milliliters of seawater or any liquid that contains salt into the device, after which it acts as a source of light for 45 days, according to the company. The device also comes with a useful USB port that people can use to charge their portable devices such as phones or tablets. The project was a result of the startup working with the Colombian creative agency Wunderman Thompson.

Pipe Ruiz Pineda, executive creative director of Wunderman Thompson Colombia, spoke to Dezeen, saying, "WaterLight can be more efficient than solar energy lanterns because it regenerates instantly. Once filled with water, the energy delivery is immediate while solar lanterns need to transform solar energy to alternative energy to charge batteries and they only work if there is sun."

The device uses ionization to give out energy. The process essentially utilizes electrolytes that are present in the saline liquid to reach magnesium and copper plates that are located inside the lamp to produce electricity. Even though this is a well-known chemical process, the startup has modified it by ensuring that the reaction continues to happen over a long period to ensure a light source that should ideally be reliable.

While talking about the technology, Pineda said, "They patented a way of ionization that lasts longer than any technology before." The startup claims that the device has a lifespan of 5600 hours, where it can provide approximately two or three years of use, depending on usage. The light is of a cylindrical shape made out of Urapán wood, having a circuit built into the base. It also has a perforated cap that allows water to flow in while allowing the hydrogen gas created during ionization to get out.

Once the salt particles in the water source have depleted, people can refill the lamp with fresh seawater and use the old water for something else. The present version of the lamp was made keeping the Wayúu people in mind. They are an indigenous tribe residing in the northernmost part of South America. Pineda said, "E-Dina is a Colombian company and we wanted to start with a local community with the problem of no access to electricity." According to Design Week UK, the Wayúu community resides in a desert area surrounded by water, effectively limiting their access to electricity, so the lamp would be a welcome innovation for them. 

TIME reported about the device in their best inventions list of 2022, stating that the company had created a crowd-funding campaign to sell more than 100,000 units when they were finally able to mass-produce it. E-Dina founding partner Nicolas Pinzón Cordoba said, "There are [millions of] humans beings on the planet who do not have electricity. We seek to be light where today there is only darkness."