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They have desalination plants in the middle east. The problem with those is that they are very energy intensive.

• latch 15y ago
  The pacific is worth mentioning too...Singapore in particular, and Australia increasingly so. A handful of southern US states are getting things ramped up too.
• mahyarm 15y ago
  I think solar heat desalination plants in very hot climates like that could be more practical. +40C is fairly common in Singapore and the Middle East
• dalke 15y ago
  Another problem is the output flow is more saline, which affects sea life.
  • Raphael 15y ago
    Can't the salt be safely dumped on land?
    • dalke 15y ago
      It's not salt but brine - water with a high concentration of salt. If put on land it would kill all plant life excepting a few highly salt tolerant species.
• jonknee 15y ago
  There's a large desal plant in Florida too, it supplies part of the water that I drink. You're right in that it's energy intensive, but at least in our part of the world the largest problem was water quality. There's a lot of biomass floating around in sea water and it means having to constantly repair the filters. I believe there was a big issue with an invasive species of mussels as well that do quite a bit of damage. http://www.tampabaywater.org/facilities/desalination_plant/index.aspx http://www.tampabaywater.org/facilities/desalination_plant/i...