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Can making seawater drinkable quench the world's thirst?
BBC ^ | 13 October 2015 | By Padraig Belton

Posted on 10/13/2015 6:36:11 AM PDT by moose07

Producing fresh drinking water from the sea - desalination - has always seemed to be the most obvious answer to water shortages.

Our oceans cover more than 70% of the earth's surface and contain 97% of its water.
But the energy needed to achieve this seemingly simple process has been costly.
Now, thanks to new technologies, costs have been halved and huge desalination plants are opening around the world.

The largest seawater desalination plant ever, Israel's Sorek plant near Tel Aviv, just ramped up to full production.
It will make 624 million litres of drinkable water daily, and sell 1,000 litres - equivalent to a Brit's weekly consumption - for 45p.
Nearby in Saudi Arabia, the Ras al-Khair plant reaches full production in December.
[break]

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have even experimented with semi-permeable membranes made from atom-thick graphene.
{break}


(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: desalination; desalinization; drinkingwater; graphene; israel; israeldesalination; israeldesalinization; seawater; water
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Useful in emergency if scaleable to handheld filter size. :)
1 posted on 10/13/2015 6:36:11 AM PDT by moose07
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To: moose07

The best thing about the discussion is almost to a person, the people who advocate for expensive energy deride this as too expensive.

It reveals the true motivations of such people.


2 posted on 10/13/2015 6:40:30 AM PDT by Bogey78O (We had a good run. Coulda been great still.)
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To: moose07

This could solve the rise of the oceans problem due to global warming!


3 posted on 10/13/2015 6:47:50 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Bogey78O
It sure does:

But US environmental groups have fought construction of new desalination plants in the courts, saying the consequences of reintroducing brine to the ocean have not been adequately studied.

"And when water is being drawn from the ocean, it brings fish and other organisms into the machinery - and that has an environmental and economic impact," says Wenonah Hauter, head of Food and Water Watch in Washington DC.


4 posted on 10/13/2015 6:51:01 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: smokingfrog

Yeah,Wow!
And, And ,Carbon Dioxide....
:)


5 posted on 10/13/2015 6:53:50 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: moose07

And yet the biggest worry with “global warming” is that the melting ice caps will dilute them too much. Now they’re complaining that we’re concentrating the salt to much?

And another level of liberal hypocrisy is revealed, as those who label themselves “progressive” seem to be the ones most opposed to “progress”.


6 posted on 10/13/2015 6:55:33 AM PDT by Little Pig
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To: SunkenCiv

of interest to you? :)


7 posted on 10/13/2015 6:57:07 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: moose07
We already have personal desalinization filters, originally developed for military use by individual soldiers.

It's now just about making them cheaper and longer-lasting.

8 posted on 10/13/2015 6:58:17 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Big government is attractive to those who think that THEY will be in control of it.)
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To: moose07

Meh. A solar distillation plant could do it cheaper.


9 posted on 10/13/2015 7:02:21 AM PDT by Oberon (John 12:5-6)
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To: PapaBear3625

That’s useful, thanks.
None of my filters are recommended for Saltwater use.
Anything else but not salt.


10 posted on 10/13/2015 7:04:34 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: smokingfrog

Given all the ground water pumped out and used, only to mostly drain to the seas, I wouldn’t be surprised if a small rise was noticed.


11 posted on 10/13/2015 7:06:33 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: Oberon

Valid point, But...How big would it have to be to produce the same throughput?


12 posted on 10/13/2015 7:08:05 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: smokingfrog

Won’t the water evaporate the hotter it gets? lol


13 posted on 10/13/2015 7:10:25 AM PDT by mothball
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To: moose07

I’ve heard enviro extremists talk about the waste produced by desalination. Most of the waste is the salt and other minerals left over after the water is processed through the plant. They apparently are against dumping the waste which was once in the seawater back into the ocean. Why this is a problem, I just don’t understand.


14 posted on 10/13/2015 7:27:54 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Can’t those waste products be utilized? There are specialty salts from all over the world advertised in a spice catalog I receive. Just make salt!


15 posted on 10/13/2015 7:35:20 AM PDT by Twotone (Truth is hate to those who hate truth.)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

The worry is localised increase in the salt content of the Sea: 40KppM instead of 30KppM.
So just dilute it a bit more...
They are playing stupid games to delay projects for their own sick ends.


16 posted on 10/13/2015 7:42:41 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: Twotone

I think those waste products can be used.

So many places use salt on the road in the winter to help melt ice and snow. Desal plants could sell these stashes of salt to places which need them for that.

I’ve seen sea salt in the supermarket. Is that literally natural salt from the sea? If it is, then the salt from desal plants could be sold to supermarket chains to sell to consumers.


17 posted on 10/13/2015 7:43:43 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: moose07

Dilution is the solution for pollution.


18 posted on 10/13/2015 7:47:18 AM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I miss my dad.)
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To: Travis T. OJustice

:D


19 posted on 10/13/2015 7:57:53 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) - Nah)
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To: moose07
SoCal has a 50 million gallon a day desalination plant going on line by the end of the year. Another similar plant by the same company is planned for Huntington Beach.

http://poseidonwater.com/

20 posted on 10/13/2015 8:22:42 AM PDT by TheDon (BO must be replaced immediately for the good of the nation and the world!)
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