Students in Indonesia create solar-powered technology to support Gili Genting Island’s dual needs for fresh drinking water and salt.
Located in Madura, Indonesia, Gili Genting Island is a remote and densely populated tropical island in the Java Sea with approximately 10,000 residents who rely on such industries as fishing and tourism for their livelihood. The sea surrounding the island and harboring its all-important fishing industry boasts the second highest saline level in the world (after the Dead Sea in the Middle East), making it paramount for the community to preserve salt while ensuring an adequate supply of fresh drinking water. But thanks to an innovative EPICS in IEEE project driven by students from the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in Surabaya, Indonesia, entitled “Gili Genting Island’s Oxygen Conservation: IoT-Driven PV-RO for Salt and Drinkable Water Production,” the local community can now benefit from a solar-powered seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) system capable of producing both fresh drinking water and salt within a single system.
“The idea for our system was born after we conducted a field survey on Gili Genting Island to assess the community’s needs and found that, while most of the locals are fishermen who rely on salt to preserve fish, there’s also high demand for fresh drinking water on the island,” shared Rohmah Hidayah, ITS student and Team Leader. “We decided to develop a system powered by the environmentally friendly energy source of solar photovoltaics (PV) to fulfill the drinking water and salt needs, all using IoT technology for monitoring.
Driven by an eight-member team of students in close collaboration with community partner ‘Karya Bahari Community’ on Gili Genting Island, “our project uses a modified reverse osmosis (RO) machine powered by smart solar panels which can convert seawater into both drinking water and salt,” Hidayah explained. “While conventional RO machines produce high-salinity wastewater, our modified RO system channels this waste into a solar still box equipped with a heating element that uses accelerated evaporation to separate water from salt. The RO machine and heater are powered by an off-grid PV system, which allows local fishermen to produce both drinking water and salt from seawater as long as sunlight is available,” he said. “The salt can be used to preserve their catch, while the drinking water serves as a vital resource for water security on the island.”
According to Hidayah, embedded sensors, actuators, and drivers control the entire mechanism, from its PV system, water storage, pipes, and seawater pumps to the IoT system, which oversees data acquisition. “The collected data will be used by a short message service (SMS)-based software tool to inform the community whether the seawater has been successfully converted into drinkable water,” he said.
Hidayah confirmed that the student team faced many challenges while creating their system, as no previously existing SWRO product met their required capacity or provided both drinkable water and salt from seawater.
“To produce drinking water, we had to conduct three experiments before achieving the required TDS (total dissolved
solids) level in our fourth trial, and for salt production, we were challenged by weather-related issues during Madura’s rainy season,” shared Hidayah, whose team relied on regular weather updates from their NGO partner in Madura to schedule activities around the dry and sunny conditions needed for the system’s optimal use.
Happily, the team prevailed — the system was successfully implemented and tested in December 2024, and the resulting water was deemed drinkable.
“Agents of Change”
As the team conducts ongoing monitoring of the system’s performance to ensure that it provides sustainable benefits to both the fishermen and local residents of Gili Genting Island, “we hope this project will continue to provide long-term benefits for coastal communities, both on Gili Genting Island and on other small islands in Indonesia facing similar challenges,” Hidayah said. “By combining renewable energy, seawater purification technology, and IoT-based monitoring systems, this initiative has great potential to accelerate digital transformation and food security in coastal areas.”
Hidayah confirmed that the project delivered personal and professional benefits to all team members.
“Technically, we learned how to design, develop, and calibrate an IoT-based PV-RO system to produce drinkable water with standard TDS levels and to optimize saltwater separation systems to meet local needs,” Hidayah said. “We also honed our skills in project management, problem-solving, interdisciplinary communication, and cooperation with NGOs, local communities, and academic supervisors.” Equally important, he said, “this project taught us how to collaborate effectively, think creatively, and build empathy for community needs, as we learned that project success depends not only on technology but also on social understanding, commitment, and teamwork.”
Hidayah and his teammates were extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in this EPICS in IEEE project, which was sponsored by the Fischer Mertel Community of Projects, a fund established to celebrate the dedication and contributions of industry leaders Joe Fischer and Herb Mertel to the field of engineering.
“This program provided a tremendous opportunity to learn beyond the classroom, directly from the community, from field-based technical challenges, and through interdisciplinary collaboration,” Hidayah said. “Through EPICS in IEEE, we felt empowered and encouraged to become agents of change, not just as academics, but as social innovators who contribute to their communities.”
As a result of their positive project, Hidayah concluded, “We highly recommend EPICS in IEEE to other students — not only for the financial support, but also for the incredible learning experience, networking, and tangible social impact it offers.”
For More Information
For more information on EPICS in IEEE or the opportunity to participate in service-learning projects, visit https://epics.ieee.org/. “EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) in IEEE” is an initiative that provides opportunities for students to work proactively with engineering professionals, technological innovators, and local organizations/partners to develop solutions that address global community challenges. water
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