Water Desalination Trends
Water scarcity has been a major problem in the world today, mainly because of the worsening climate change across the globe, coupled with the increasing population and water demand. Although some parts of the world still have enough water to get them by, most of the countries are not as fortunate, especially those in the arid regions.
This problem alone has led us in a search for a more sustainable and viable water alternative. Since our freshwater resource is limited, only totaling to around three percent of the world’s water capacity, we had started exploring ways of making freshwater ourselves.
Brackish water is one of the major candidates in this search. Since it only has a salinity of no more than 10,000 mg/L, it is far less challenging to extract fresh water from it. However, there is already limited supply of this type of water, making it an unreliable source for future demands.
The ocean now proves to be a significant player in the water industry, mainly because of its drought-proof capabilities. It is practically bottomless, representing over 97% of the world’s water. This fact alone proves that seawater is basically the long-term solution to a sustainable water resource, albeit its unconventionality.
This then leads us to the process of desalination, extracting salt from seawater or brackish water. Desalination dates back to the late 1700s but has not been fully utilized until the 1900s. Today, a handful of countries worldwide is already manning thousands of desalination plants for the benefit of their people.
While desalinated water costs a whole lot than tap water, it is expected to be relatively affordable in the near future, especially with the advancement in desalination technologies.
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