The world is running out of fresh water and now companies are using the high pressure of the ocean depths to push seawater through a membrane leaving salt behind.

This month Scientific American reports a breakthrough in strategy of how to apply reverse osmosis without huge energy costs or negative environmental issues by allowing it to "happen naturally" using technology that harnesses pressure hundreds of meters underwater.

"Reverse osmosis pods are submerged to depths of around 400 to 500 meters (1,600 feet) where immense hydrostatic pressure does the heavy lifting of separating water from salt. Purified water is then pumped back to shore.

"Far-fetched as it may sound, there are multiple prototypes already at work; the companies behind them aim to take cheap, large-scale desalination

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