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Plasma Water Purification – Turning Electricity into Clean Water Chemistry What if we could clean water not by adding more chemicals, but by briefly “touching” it with a controlled lightning-like discharge? Plasma water purification uses non-thermal plasma – an ionised gas created by high-voltage pulses in air or another gas – in direct contact with water. We don’t turn the whole water volume into plasma. Instead, we create tiny plasma regions (above the surface, in bubbles, or in micro-channels) that generate a cocktail of highly reactive species, often called reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). When this plasma interacts with water, it forms plasma-activated water (PAW) containing radicals and longer-lived oxidants such as H₂O₂, O₃, NO₂⁻ and NO₃⁻. Together they act like a built-in advanced oxidation process: - they deactivate microbes and biofilms by damaging cell walls, proteins and DNA - they break down organic pollutants (pharmaceuticals, dyes, pesticides, odours) into smaller, less harmful molecules, ideally all the way to CO₂, water and inorganic ions In practice, a plasma module would look like a compact reactor: water flows through or past a discharge zone, powered by a high-voltage pulsed supply. No bulk dosing of chlorine or other chemicals is required; the “reagent” is electricity plus air. For coastal or Marisol-type systems, plasma purification could: - keep seawater cooling loops clean by suppressing biofouling - pre-treat brackish or greywater before desalination or reuse - reduce chemical footprints in sensitive marine environments The core promise: use electrons instead of chemicals to drive the water chemistry we want – and power it with renewable electricity.