I recently heard of WATER DESALINATION?--can someone tell me how it works?

Question

how fast or hard is to do--any info would be apprecated-----major purpose for it and who is benefiting from it the most---where?

Answer 1

As Betty said above both methods require energy, a lot of energy. Distilling salt water will be the way of the future once cold fusion is perfected.  Once we get cold fusion then that means everyone in the world will have all the fresh water they need for next to nothing in cost or pollution.

The only place that I know of that is doing desalination on a grand scale is the Middle East using their oil for the power source.

Answer 2

Water desalination is performed by two methods.

One is to distill water by heating it to form steam. Then cool and condense the steam and collect the water.

The other is called reverse osmosis, where the water is forced under pressure through a membrane with very small holes that permit the water molecules to go through , but not the salt molecules.

Both methods require energy.

Answer 3

Most every ship at sea makes their own water- both for drinking and for steam boilers.

Answer 4

Everyone above is correct. They both work but it is expensive water.

Key West tried desalination for several years because they didn't want to build a new bigger pipeline from 110 miles north. They abandoned it and built the pipeline because the power and maintenance costs were so high it was much cheaper to build new pipe and pump it. This was a distilling system. It took a lot of fuel for heat and a lot of power for pumps, etc.

I have a friend in Mexico that has a reverse osmosis system just for his house because they live on the beach with no electric power or water. He has a solar system with generator and batteries. Even though he has a large solar system, he must run the generator to make water because of the power needs. The power needs are for the high and low pressure pumps required for the system.

Answer 5

I think Saudi Arabia makes use of desalinization plants.