A Brief Note On Desalination And Its Effects On The Natural Ecosystem

Desalination is a great way to help people. Many areas do not have fresh water resources such as rivers and lakes. Taking out the salt from seawater will provide lots of people. This is needed where there is not a lot of natural drinking water. “People are building the Carlsbad desalination project. When it is completed, the huge plant will turn as many as 56 million gallons of seawater each day into drinking

The Perth Desalination plant cost a total of $387 million. The annual running costs equals $20 million which equates to less than one dollar per week per household. The water produced from the plant has been estimated to cost $1.17/kl. The plant uses 180GWh/year and is sourced from Emu Downs Wind Farm, a local renewable energy generator near Geraldton and Cervantes. Although Desalination uses more energy than other water sources (i.e. gravity feeding water out of a dam). Different measures have been put in place to make the plant as economical and environmentally sustainable such as using energy from a sustainable source and by choosing the Reverse Osmosis technology. Reverse Osmosis is more economical and environmentally sustainable than other

When examining the process of desalination there are several advantages and disadvantages of the process that need to be examined, starting with the advantages. One of the major advantages of this process according to Gude (2016) is having the option to use renewable energy for the process instead of using fossil fuels. He states this is better for our environment and there will always be access to the wind, solar, or wave energy being produced compared to our fossil fuels which already are at a risk of running out. Haddad has also stated that renewable energy resources are better for our environment compared to fossil fuels, as they reduce our carbon footprint and the risk of climate change. Another advantage that can

As world population increases along with demand for clean water desalination will become an increasingly important part of our water supply in the 21st century. We will not run out of water but we will pay more for receiving it in potable

When nature limits our accessibility to water by droughts, we face no other choice but to turn toward the oceans for water. In that case we have to desalinate ocean water in order to purify it. The two most commonly known methods for desalination used around the world are Reverse Osmosis and Vapor Compression Desalination. We may take these two advancements in technology for granted in our daily lives and overuse the constantly flowing water. We need to take into consideration the amount of energy and effort required to purify water using these two processes. As the population grows in the drought areas the need for producing desalinated water is also going to increase, as

All major desalination plants in Australia incorporate energy recovery devices to minimize overall energy requirements. Also, a worldwide research and development effort is currently devoted to reducing the energy consumption of desalination processes. A report by CSIRO and WSAA has identified that the energy demand profile for water supplies was influenced by the uptake of desalination in Australian cities. “In South East Queensland, desalinated and recycled water made up around 10% of the water supplied in 2009/10. The treatment energy for these rainfall independent water sources made up more than 40% of the total energy for water supply treatment and pumping.”(Cook, Hall & Gregory

748 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in ten of the world 's population. Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation. Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation. People -- especially those in water-starved parts of the world -- have been searching for fresh water solutions for centuries. Even in modern times, entire populations struggle with a cruel irony; they are surrounded by salt water, but lack drinking water. Desalination, desalinization, and desalinisation refer to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water. Desalination/distillation is one of

Desalination a process through which salt water is pumped from the ocean in to a treatment facility, and then the salt is extracted to make it possible to be used domestically. This is a long drawn out process, which involves seven different steps. The steps of desalination include the following steps explained by Eco Chem “Step 1. Seawater enters the desalination plant through an intake system about 300 meters offshore. Water enters at a low speed to avoid impacts on marine life. Step 2. Seawater passes through an initial screening to remove any debris. Step 3. Seawater is filtered to remove any fine particles. Step 4. Filtered seawater passes through the reverse osmosis membranes Step 5. Desalinated water is treated to meet strict Australian Water Guidelines. Step 6. Drinking water is pumped into the water distribution network. Step 7. Seawater concentrate is safely discharged to the ocean and dispersed through outlet diffusers about 300 meters offshore.” The steps of desalination are a very difficult and tedious task, which can be problematic.

One of the greatest reasons for water scarcity over the past decade has been population growth in heavily concentrated in urban areas- an excellent example of this phenomenon being China. Already the world 's most populated country, China 's largest cities have evolved into what the United Nations have begun to call "megacities"- defined as cities with a population of over ten million. With urbanization expected to increase 60-65% by 2030, water insecurity is already a concern for the Chinese government and one that is emphasized by Shanghai and Beijing (populations 14.35 and 11.51 million respectively) being coastal cities with little access to water inland ("Market Report: Developing Desalination In China"). In recent years, China has begun to rely heavily on water sourced from desalination plants, and desalination has grown into a 4 billion dollar industry, but both the economic and environmental effects have become apparent. Water from desalination plants is, on average, twice as expensive as naturally sourced fresh water. Although energy usage accounts for much of the total cost of a desalination plant, China current technology is almost completely imported and therefore very costly to ship and maintain. Introducing domestic technology would be one solution, however, in China,

The groundwater storage has been depleted through the various sources of human consumption. In many places the quality of groundwater became a concern that can harm human health because of the overexploitation as well as contamination. Without a constant source of water human survival can be threatened. Therefore, methods of supplying fresh water such as desalination processes have become very popular and widely studied because of

Australia, as the driest inhabited continent, had installed 331 desalination plants supplying high quality water to the increasing population. Another country, China, also implete the use of desalination plants to tackle the drought and large population problems. This section will compare several technologies used in these two countries. As shown in Table 1, RO is the most used technology in both countries, accounting for 61.03% in Australia and 81.3% in China.

China’s ability to cope with its limited fresh water resources may be the greatest determining factor in the nation’s future prosperity as well as the wellbeing of the Chinese people. Though not entirely without freshwater reserves, the mere size of the nation’s population dictates that China fails to be a water abundant country. Recent decades’ rapid development, inefficient water usage, and pollution have given way to a severe and growing water crisis. As a key component of the government’s effort to refocus the economy on a more sustainable model of development, further urbanization will only exacerbate this already severe water issue. In the coming years, China’s expanding cities – the center pieces of the recent phase of growth and prosperity – are estimated to grow by millions in population. It is crucial that this path to development is accompanied by ensuring the availability of safe, clean water to both urban and rural citizens.

China’s ability to deal with its limited water resources may perhaps be the greatest determining factor in the future prosperity of the nation as well as wellbeing of the Chinese people. Though not entirely without freshwater reserves, the sheer size of the nation’s population dictates that China has always failed to be a water abundant country. Recent decades’ rapid development, inefficient water usage, and pollution have birthed a severe and growing water crisis. As a key component of the government’s effort to refocus the economy on a more sustainable model of development, urbanization will only exacerbate this already severe water issue. In the coming years, China’s cities – the backbone of the recent phase of growth and prosperity – will grow by millions in population. It is crucial that this path to development is followed while ensuring the availability of safe, clean water to both urban and rural citizens.

Desalination is the process through which pure water is recovered from saline water using various forms of technology. The two major commercial desalination technologies include thermal desalination and membrane processes. Osman (2005, p.209) asserts that the technology is critical to water management, and it works independently of climatic factors. Thus, the method can be used to supply fresh water consistently regardless of the weather in the arid regions.

Desalination continues to assist various countries such as Saudi Arabia in increasing their supply of freshwater to the public. In his report, Alghariani (2003) suggests that the expense of spare parts, maintenance and training costs, as well as the difficulty of some processes involved, has lead to the low production volume from desalination techniques, however, Lisa Henthorne of the International Desalination Association, claims that as of 2009, there were 14,451 desalination plants with a combined production volume of 59.9 million cubic metres per day, indicating an increase in the supply of freshwater. Although seawater desalination removes most of the contaminants in the water, and not all, it still provides means for utilizing the ocean, which is the world’s main water resource, and this continues to deliver high quality water, which is suitable for human consumption, therefore making significant contributions to the supply of water to arid regions.