MrBeast drinks water made from his own urine in attempt to raise $40M

In a recent video posted on YouTube by MrBeast in collaboration with Mark Rober, both creators did things that most people would rather not. Mark Rober purified and drank water from a flush toilet, while MrBeast had to drink water separated and purified from his own urine.

They did this to raise $40 million for Team Water, a charitable project aimed at providing 2 billion people around the world access to drinkable water.

The science behind the stunt: reverse osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of solvent (water) across a semi-permeable membrane from a region of higher concentration, to a region of lower concentration. Reverse osmosis involves the opposite — here, an external pressure is applied to force water to move from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration.

Here is a breakdown of how reverse osmosis works:

• Pressure. A pump is used to apply high pressure to the saltwater or contaminated water. This pressure must be greater than the natural osmotic pressure.
• Semi-permeable membrane. The water is forced against a special membrane with extremely fine pores.
• Separation. The pressure forces the small water molecules through the membrane, but the larger dissolved salts, minerals, bacteria, and other contaminants are blocked and cannot pass through.
• Collection. The potable water is collected and the waste left behind is discarded.

The pioneers making the difference with reverse osmosis: GivePower

To make the video, the YouTubers partnered with GivePower — a non-profit organization with a focus on solar-powered solutions. GivePower builds portable water filtration systems — reverse osmosis systems fitted inside shipping containers — all powered by the sun. Each system is able to produce 70,000 liters of water every day.

Reverse osmosis is an energy-intensive process. To counter this problem, the organization says it partnered with leading companies in the design of the solar panels, pump, and batteries, to develop a very efficient system.