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.
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Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have even experimented with semi-permeable membranes made from atom-thick graphene.
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(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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.
This could solve the rise of the oceans problem due to global warming!
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.
Yeah,Wow!
And, And ,Carbon Dioxide....
:)
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”.
of interest to you? :)
It's now just about making them cheaper and longer-lasting.
Meh. A solar distillation plant could do it cheaper.
That’s useful, thanks.
None of my filters are recommended for Saltwater use.
Anything else but not salt.
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.
Valid point, But...How big would it have to be to produce the same throughput?
Won’t the water evaporate the hotter it gets? lol
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.
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!
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.
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.
Dilution is the solution for pollution.
:D
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