Desalination

Reverse osmosis desalination plant in Barcelona, Spain

Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance.[1] One example is soil desalination. This is important for agriculture. It is possible to desalinate saltwater, especially sea water, to produce water for human consumption or irrigation. The by-product of the desalination process is brine.[2] Many seagoing ships and submarines use desalination. Modern interest in desalination mostly focuses on cost-effective provision of fresh water for human use. Along with recycled wastewater, it is one of the few water resources independent of rainfall.[3]

Due to its energy consumption, desalinating sea water is generally more costly than fresh water from surface water or groundwater, water recycling and water conservation; however, these alternatives are not always available and depletion of reserves is a critical problem worldwide.[4][5][6] Desalination processes are using either thermal methods (in the case of distillation) or membrane-based methods (e.g. in the case of reverse osmosis).[7][8]: 24 

An estimate in 2018 found that "18,426 desalination plants are in operation in over 150 countries. They produce 87 million cubic meters of clean water each day and supply over 300 million people."[8]: 24  The energy intensity has improved: It is now about 3 kWh/m3 (in 2018), down by a factor of 10 from 20–30 kWh/m3 in 1970.[8]: 24  Nevertheless, desalination represented about 25% of the energy consumed by the water sector in 2016.[8]: 24 

  1. ^ "Desalination" (definition), The American Heritage Science Dictionary, via dictionary.com. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  2. ^ Panagopoulos, Argyris; Haralambous, Katherine-Joanne; Loizidou, Maria (November 25, 2019). "Desalination brine disposal methods and treatment technologies – A review". The Science of the Total Environment. 693: 133545. Bibcode:2019ScTEn.69333545P. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.351. ISSN 1879-1026. PMID 31374511. S2CID 199387639.
  3. ^ Fischetti, Mark (September 2007). "Fresh from the Sea". Scientific American. 297 (3): 118–119. Bibcode:2007SciAm.297c.118F. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0907-118. PMID 17784633.
  4. ^ Ebrahimi, Atieh; Najafpour, Ghasem D; Yousefi Kebria, Daryoush (2019). "Performance of microbial desalination cell for salt removal and energy generation using different catholyte solutions". Desalination. 432: 1. doi:10.1016/j.desal.2018.01.002.
  5. ^ "Making the Deserts Bloom: Harnessing nature to deliver us from drought, Distillations Podcast and transcript, Episode 239". Science History Institute. March 19, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Elsaid, Khaled; Kamil, Mohammed; Sayed, Enas Taha; Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali; Wilberforce, Tabbi; Olabi, A. (2020). "Environmental impact of desalination technologies: A review". Science of the Total Environment. 748: 141528. Bibcode:2020ScTEn.74841528E. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141528. PMID 32818886.
  7. ^ Cohen, Yoram (2021). "Advances in Water Desalination Technologies". Materials and Energy. Vol. 17. WORLD SCIENTIFIC. doi:10.1142/12009. ISBN 978-981-12-2697-7. ISSN 2335-6596. S2CID 224974880.
  8. ^ a b c d Alix, Alexandre; Bellet, Laurent; Trommsdorff, Corinne; Audureau, Iris, eds. (2022). Reducing the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Water and Sanitation Services: Overview of emissions and their potential reduction illustrated by utility know-how. IWA Publishing. doi:10.2166/9781789063172. ISBN 978-1-78906-317-2. S2CID 250128707.