Now this sounds like world changing news:

Cheap, clean water may soon be available for the whole planet. According to Reuters, defense contractor Lockheed Martin has developed a filter that will hugely reduce the amount of energy necessary to turn sea water into fresh water. The filter, which is five hundred times thinner then others currently available, lets water pass through but blocks all salt molecules. It will use almost 100 times less energy than other methods for making salt water drinkable, giving third world countries another way of expanding access to drinking water without having to create costly pumping stations.

First, notice that it wasn't the government that came up with this, but private industry.

Second, this has even broader implications in filtering water contaminated with undesirable things.  

As they say: faster, please!