WHAT IS DESALINATION?
The process in which salts, other minerals and impurities are removed from brackish, seawater and wastewater is known as “Desalination”.
From this process that is desalination, fresh water is obtained and we can get this fresh water in large amounts. This fresh water is then used for many purposes like humans consume it for variety of purposes (domestic/industrial purposes).Thermal and membrane technologies are based on this process.
SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DESALINATION PROCESS
This process of desalination is used worldwide. The salty water or the impure water is made drinkable by removing the salt particles. This process not only removes salt particles, but also many toxic minerals and compounds. Chemical procedures are used to remove microorganisms. Membranes with narrow pores are also used to remove unwanted particles in this process of desalination.
ADVANTAGES OF DESALINATION
There are innumerable advantages of this process of desalination but let’s give a look at some
1. Agricultural purposes: The water obtained by this process is used for many agricultural purposes like irrigation and is mostly used in areas where there is scarcity of water for example in deserts, etc. that are experiencing droughts.
2. Potable water: It is supplied to people by the process of reverse osmosis. The salt is removed from the seawater and then this water is used for drinking purposes having a lot of health benefits. High quality drinking water is obtained by this process. Caribbean and other islands get most of the water through desalination of seawater. 70% of the freshwater Saudi Arabia gets by the process of desalination.
3. The desalination plants are located safely: These plants are not located near residential areas because it would be quite risky. A single desalination plant can produce drinkable water around 500 million liters. Isn’t that a huge amount!
4. It helps to preserve and conserve freshwater supplies: We all are aware that Earth’s freshwater supply is limited, so one should try to preserve it. By desalination, we are conserving and preserving the freshwater.
DISADVANTAGES OF DESALINATION
Besides having many advantages it has many disadvantages as well
1. The setup of the desalination plant is very costly: To construct a desalination plant a country needs a lot of money. The initial cost of construction is too high.
2. The entire process is too costly: Enormous amount of energy and power is used .It requires the usage of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Therefore, the expenditure of such fuels increases the overall production costs.
3. Increasing the total amount of world’s greenhouse gas emissions: The method of expelling salt from seawater can be dangerous to the atmosphere by having a negative impact on the air and the environment.
4. Bad impact to the environment because of brine: By expelling salt from the seawater, brine is produced which contains huge amounts of salt. This brine can contaminate the environment by killing wildlife and vegetation