Desalination can significantly burden energy grids, especially in regions with limited energy resources.

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 Alternatives to desalination

Increased water conservation and efficiency remain the most cost-effective approaches in areas with a large potential to improve the efficiency of water use practices, Wastewater reclamation provides multiple benefits over desalination of saline water, although it typically uses desalination membranes, Urban runoff and storm water capture also provide benefits in treating restoring and recharging groundwater.

A proposed alternative to desalination in the American Southwest is the commercial importation of bulk water from water-rich areas either by oil tankers converted to water carriers, or pipelines. The idea is politically unpopular in Canada, where governments imposed trade barriers to bulk water exports as a result of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim,

The Califomia Department of Water Resources and the California State Water Resources Control Board submitted a report to the state legislature recommending that urban water suppliers achieve an indoor water use efficiency standard of 55 US gallons (210 litres) per capita per day by 2023, declining to 47 US gallons (180 litres) per day by 2025, and 42 US gallons (160 litres) by 2030 and beyond.

Costs

Factors that determine the costs for desalination include capacity and type of facility, location, feed water, labor, energy, financing, and concentrate disposal. Costs of desalinating sea water (infrastructure, energy, and maintenance) are generally higher than fresh water from rivers or groundwater, water recycling, and water conservation, but alternatives are only sometimes available Desalination costs in 2013 ranged from US$0.45 to US$1.00/m² More than half of the cost comes directly from energy costs, and since energy prices are very volatile, actual costs can vary substantially,

The cost of untreated fresh water in the developing world can reach US$5/cubic metre

Since 1975, desalination technology has seen significant advancements, decreasing the average cost of producing one cubic meter of freshwater from seawater from $3.10 in 2000 to approximately 30.50 today. Improved desalination efficiency is a primary factor contributing to this reduction. Energy consumption remains a significant cost component, accounting for up to half the total cost of the desalination process

Desalination can significantly burden energy grids, especially in regions with limited energy resources. For instance, in the island nation of Cyprus, desalination accounts for approximately 5% of the country's total power consumption

The global desalination market was valued at 520 billion in 2023. With growing populations in arid coastal regions, this market is projected to double by 2032. in 2023, global desalination capacity reached 99 million cubic meters per day, a significant increase from 27 million cubic meters per day.

m 2003

Cost Comparison of Desalination Methods

Method

Passive solar (30.42% energy efficient)

Cost (USS/liter)

0.034

<0.001

Passive solar (improved single-slope, india)

0.024

Passive solar (Improved double slope, India)

0.007

Multi Stage Flash (MSF)

0.0008

Reverse Osmosis (Concentrated solar power)

<0.001

Reverse Camasis (Photovoltaic power)

0.000825

Average consumption and cost of supply by seawater desalination at US$1 per cubic metre (150%)

Consumption Litre/person/day

370

189

57

Desalinated Water Cost USS/person/day

0.38

019

0.0%

0:05

US

Europe

Africa

UN recommended minimum

Desalination stilis control pressure, temperature and brine concentrations to optimize efficiency. Nuclear powered desalination might be economical on a large scale

In 2014, the Israeli facilities of Hadera, Palmahim, Ashkelon, and Sorek were desalinizing water for less than US$0.40 per cubic meter. As of 2006, Singapore was desalinating water for US$0.49 per cubic meter, 11211

Environmental concerns

Intake

in the United States, cooling water intake structures are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These structures can have the same impacts on the environment as desalination facility intakes. According to EPA, water intake structures cause adverse environmental impact by sucking fish and shellfish or their eggs into an industrial system. There, the organisms may be killed or injured by heat, physical stress, or chemicals. Larger organisms may be killed or injured when they become trapped against screens at the front of an intake structure. Alternative intake types that mitigate these impacts include beach wells, but they require more energy and higher costs.

The Kwinana Desalination Plant opened in the Australian city of Perth, in 2007, Water there and at Queensland's Gold Coast Desalination Plant and Sydney's Kurmell Desalination Plant is withdrawn at 0.1 m/s (0.33 ft/s), which is slow enough to let fish escape. The plant provides nearly 140.000 m² (4,900,000 cu ft) of clean water per day. (174

Outflow

Desalination processes produce large quantities of brine, possibly at above ambient temperature, and contain residues of pretreatment and cleaning chemicals, their reaction byproducts and heavy  metals due to corrosion (especially in thermal-based plants), Chemical pretreatment and cleaning are a necessity in most desalination plants, which typically includes prevention of biofouling, scaling, foaming and corrosion in thermal plants, and of biofouling, suspended solids and scale deposits in membrane plants

To limit the environmental impact of returning the brine to the ocean, it can be diluted with another stream of water entering the ocean, such as the outfall of a wastewater treatment or power plant. With medium to large power plant and desalination plants, the power plant's cooling water flow is likely to be several times larger than that of the desalination plant, reducing the salinity of the combination. Another method to dilute the brine is to mix it via a diffuser in a mixing zone. For example, once a pipeline containing the brine reaches the sea floor, it can split into many branches, each releasing brine gradually through small holes along ita length. Mixing can be combined with power plant or wastewater plant dilution. Furthermore, zero liquid discharge systems can be adopted to treat brine before disposal

Another possibility is making the desalination plant movable, thus avoiding that the brine builds up into a single location (as it keeps being produced by the desalination plant) Some such movable (ship-connected) desalination plants have been constructed

Brine is denser than seawater and therefore sinks to the ocean bottom and can damage the ecosystem. Brine plumes have been seen to diminish over time to a diluted concentration, to where there was little to no effect on the surrounding environment. However studies have shown the dilution can be misleading due to the depth at which it occurred. If the dilution was observed during the summer season, there is possibility that there could have been a seasonal thermocline event that could have prevented the concentrated brine to sink to sea floor. This has the potential to not disrupt the sea floor ecosystem and instead the waters above it. Brine dispersal from the desalination plants has been seen to travel several kilometers away, meaning that it has the potential to cause harm to ecosystema far away from the plants. Careful reintroduction with appropriate measures and environmental studies can minimize this problem

Energy use

The energy demand for desalination in the Middle East, driven by severe water scarcity, is expected. to double by 2030. Currently, this process primarily uses fossil fuels, comprising over 95% of its energy source. In 2023, desalination consumed nearly half of the residential sector's energy in the region. 

Other issues

Due to the nature of the process, there is a need to place the plants on approximately 25 acres of land on or near the shoreline in the case of a plant built intand, pipes have to be laid into the ground to allow for easy intake and outtake, However, once the pipes are laid into the groun they have a possibility of leaking into and contaminating nearby aquifers. Aside from environmental riska, the noise generated by certain types of desalination plants can be loud

Health aspects

lodine deficiency

Desalination removes iodine from water and could increase the risk of iodine deficiency disorders. Israeli researchers claimed a possible link between seawater desalination and iodine deficiency finding iodine deficits among adults exposed to indine poor water concurrently with an increasing proportion of their area's drinking water from seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) They later found probable iodine deficiency disorders in a population reliant on desalinated seawater. A possible link of heavy desalinated water use and national iodine deficiency was suggested by Israeli researchers. They found a high burden of iodine deficiency in the general population of Israel 62% of school-age children and 85% of pregnant women fall below the WHO's adequacy range 114 They also pointed out the national reliance on iodine-depleted desalinated water, the absence of a universal salt iodization program and reports of increased use of thyroid medication in Israel as a possible reasons that the population's iodine intake is low. in the year that the survey was conducted, the amount of water produced from the desalination plants constitutes about 50% of the quantity of fresh water supplied for all needs and about 80% of the water supplied for domestic and industrial needs in Israel .