Do you remember the last time you heard that freshwater levels around the world are being depleted faster than ever? The shortage of water for human consumption is growing every day, and with global warming taking its toll, fresh water is becoming a scarce resource. Since large industries use water for a significant number of manufacturing, construction and similar processes, there is a need for water plants that desalinate seawater as efficiently and sustainably as possible.
Before looking at the benefits of efficient seawater desalination, let us look at the process.
What is efficient seawater desalination?
Efficient seawater desalination is the removal of salt from saline water through a range of processes, including:
- solar distillation
- vacuum distillation
- multiple-effect distillation
- multi-stage flash distillation
- reverse osmosis
- vapour compression distillation
- electrodialysis
- freeze–thaw desalination
- wave-powered desalination
- membrane distillation.
Now that you know the basics, these are the main benefits of efficient seawater desalination.
Benefits of efficient seawater desalination
1. It reduces demand on existing fresh water
Efficient seawater desalination helps reduce demand on existing freshwater resources, which can help prevent a water crisis. For people, water is far more than a basic need, and competition for water resources is a growing source of tension around the world.
With efficient seawater desalination already in use, pressure on existing freshwater resources can fall substantially. At the very least, desalinated water can be used by large industries, leaving fresh water for public supply.
2. It helps protect habitats
Produced with the right tools and technology, desalinated water safely meets, and can exceed, the regulatory standards for water intended for human consumption. Desalination reduces pressure on freshwater sources that need to be protected to sustain ecosystems.
Freshwater plant and animal life needs protection to maintain the balance of nature. When desalinated water replaces part of the demand for fresh water, freshwater reserves can be preserved and natural cycles restored.
3. A possible reduction in ocean pollution
Because the ocean is a vast body of salt water that cannot be used directly, it is often neglected, and we tend to pollute what we consider to have no value. Knowing that seawater can be efficiently converted into usable water makes us more likely to respect this resource.
With efficient seawater desalination, the seas and oceans become a source of water of great value for human life and activity. That increases the incentive to restore them, cleaning up pollutants and oil spills, and to use them responsibly, which also benefits marine life.
4. Fresh, accessible drinking water
This is the most important benefit. Around 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, but only 2.5% of that water is fresh, and only about 1% of the fresh water is readily accessible, as most is locked in snowfields and glaciers. In the end, only around 0.007% of the planet’s water is available for our various uses and to supply its eight billion people.
With such limited availability, an alternative is needed to manage and prevent a water crisis. Countries such as Saudi Arabia obtain around 70% of their fresh water through seawater desalination, and despite its desert climate and high risk of drought, the country has managed desalination very successfully.
5. Large-scale implementation
Industrial processes consume large amounts of fresh water, which further depletes global reserves. Supplying desalinated water to every home is still a distant prospect, since supplying coastal areas is very different from supplying inland regions, but desalinated water can at least be used by large companies that consume significant volumes of fresh water.
More and more countries are regulating industrial freshwater use and promoting a switch to desalinated water.
6. Economic stability
Although desalination is often expensive and has a direct impact on public budgets, in the long term it supports economic stability.
Water is essential to human life and to everyday activities such as cooking, washing and bathing. If some countries are affected by the water crisis in the near future, they may need to import water from other countries, which would require major investment.
These issues need to be addressed as soon as possible, as affected countries could face severe financial crises. A clear strategy for efficient seawater desalination in each country could help avoid the future need to import water and prevent a water crisis.
7. Desalinated water is of high quality
Even the freshest mountain water is not free from contaminants and has to be treated before it is fit to drink. Desalinated water can be as safe as, or even safer than, the water that has traditionally reached our taps.
Efficient seawater desalination does not only remove salt: it also removes harmful chemicals, metals, bacteria and other contaminants that may be present in traditional water sources, so treated seawater can be of very high quality.
Conclusion
Properly designed and maintained, efficient seawater desalination can be a very reliable and environmentally sound way to help restore the balance of nature. As a planet we are on the verge of a water crisis, and governments are working to reverse historical damage, for example by restoring flows to the mouth of the Colorado River. It is time to use fresh water more carefully and to replace part of its use with desalinated water.
Looking for a reliable partner in efficient seawater desalination? KEIKEN brings its experience to the sector with advanced desalination and water treatment solutions, supporting desalination, drinking water and wastewater reuse projects with a focus on cost-effectiveness and performance. See our desalination plants, call +34 910 577 254, email info@keiken.es or contact us.
