Cheaper, lower energy way to desalinate water one nanoliter at a time

Cool - and exciting (UniversityofTexas via HN):

By creating a small electrical field that removes salts from seawater, chemists at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Marburg in Germany have introduced a new method for the desalination of seawater that consumes less energy and is dramatically simpler than conventional techniques. The new method requires so little energy that it can run on a store-bought battery.