Desalination by country. There are approximately 16,000 operational desalination plants, located across 177 countries, which generate an estimated 95 million m 3 /day of fresh water. [1] Micro desalination plants operate near almost every natural gas or fracking facility in the United States. Contact online >>
Desalination by country. There are approximately 16,000 operational desalination plants, located across 177 countries, which generate an estimated 95 million m 3 /day of fresh water. [1] Micro desalination plants operate near almost every natural gas or fracking facility in the United States.
There are over 16,000 desalination plants in 177 countries. Many are micro plants, especially used to create cleaner water used for fracking in oil extraction. Here is a list of large operating desalination plants that have a daily capacity of 100,000 cubic meters per day or are the largest plant in a particular country.
Saudi Arabia leads the globe in the production of desalinated water with a daily production capacity of 117 million cubic feet. The country has 27 desalination plants spread along the country''s coastline with 21 located along the Red Sea and six located on the East Coast.
The global spread of desalination is examined by computing the desalination capacities in world''s regions, and by evaluating the rising trend of desalination capacity in Africa and Europe, desalination capacities of industries across the globe, desalination capacities of industries by region, desalinated water capacities owned by government
During 2022, approximately 53.3 percent of the global desalination capacity were located in the Middle East. The largest desalination project in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region...
Desalination is a technique used to filter water that contains salt and convert it into more usable water or refined for potable (drinkable) water. There are over 16,000 desalination plants in 177 countries. Many are micro plants, especially used to create cleaner water used for fracking in oil extraction.
Here is a list of large operating desalination plants that have a daily capacity of 100,000 cubic meters per day or are the largest plant in a particular country.
Desalination is the process of purifying saline water to make it fit for human consumption. Of all the water on earth, 97.5% of it is saltwater with only 2.5% being fresh water. However, over two-thirds of the fresh water is trapped in glaciers and ice caps in the polar regions of the globe which leaves only 0.83% of the total water on earth being accessible clean water. While some countries have the privilege of having many lakes and rivers within their border (such as Canada), others are not as lucky and can only rely on desalinating marine water to cater for their local water demands. Desalination occurs through two primary processes of distillation and reverses osmosis.
Saudi Arabia leads the globe in the production of desalinated water with a daily production capacity of 117 million cubic feet. The country has 27 desalination plants spread along the country''s coastline with 21 located along the Red Sea and six located on the East Coast. The desalination facilities employ two different desalination processes with seven plants using the multi-effect distillation process, eight plants using the reverse osmosis technology and 12 using the multi-stage distillation process. The country has the largest floating desalination plant in the world with a capacity of producing up to 882,867 cubic feet.
The United Arab Emirates is a desert nation which has extremely scarce fresh water resources and a fresh water per capita demand of 650 liters per day. The UAE''s primary source of fresh water is aquifers. However, the water from most of the aquifers is saline, with some having up to eight times more salinity than seawater. This means it is not fit for human consumption. Therefore, the Abu Dhabi-based government has heavily invested in desalination of sea water and has established eight desalination plants in the Gulf state at the cost of over $3.2 billion. These desalination plants are run by a government foreign investor partnership.
Improvements in technologies are pushing down the operating costs of desalination plants with studies being conducted to assess the viability of using solar energy to power the desalination plants. Desalination is expected to grow in the future as the growing population in the Middle East will cause an increase in the demand for fresh water.
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Due to its energy consumption, desalinating sea water is generally more costly than fresh water from surface water or groundwater, water recycling and water conservation; however, these alternatives are not always available and depletion of reserves is a critical problem worldwide.[4][5][6] Desalination processes are using either thermal methods (in the case of distillation) or membrane-based methods (e.g. in the case of reverse osmosis).[7][8]: 24
An estimate in 2018 found that "18,426 desalination plants are in operation in over 150 countries. They produce 87 million cubic meters of clean water each day and supply over 300 million people."[8]: 24 The energy intensity has improved: It is now about 3 kWh/m3 (in 2018), down by a factor of 10 from 20–30 kWh/m3 in 1970.[8]: 24 Nevertheless, desalination represented about 25% of the energy consumed by the water sector in 2016.[8]: 24
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle observed in his work Meteorology that "salt water, when it turns into vapour, becomes sweet and the vapour does not form salt water again when it condenses", and that a fine wax vessel would hold potable water after being submerged long enough in seawater, having acted as a membrane to filter the salt.[9]
At the same time the desalination of seawater was recorded in China. Both the Classic of Mountains and Water Seas in the Period of the Warring States and the Theory of the Same Year in the Eastern Han Dynasty mentioned that people found that the bamboo mats used for steaming rice would form a thin outer layer after long use. The as-formed thin film had adsorption and ion exchange functions, which could adsorb salt.[10]
Numerous examples of experimentation in desalination appeared throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages,[11] but desalination became feasible on a large scale only in the modern era.[12] A good example of this experimentation comes from Leonardo da Vinci (Florence, 1452), who realized that distilled water could be made cheaply in large quantities by adapting a still to a cookstove.[13] During the Middle Ages elsewhere in Central Europe, work continued on distillation refinements, although not necessarily directed towards desalination.[14]
The first major land-based desalination plant may have been installed under emergency conditions on an island off the coast of Tunisia in 1560.[14][15] It is believed that a garrison of 700 Spanish soldiers was besieged by the Turkish army and that, during the siege, the captain in charge fabricated a still capable of producing 40 barrels of fresh water per day, though details of the device have not been reported.[15]
When the frigate Protector was sold to Denmark in the 1780s (as the ship Hussaren) its still was studied and recorded in great detail.[21] In the United States, Thomas Jefferson catalogued heat-based methods going back to the 1500s, and formulated practical advice that was publicized to all U.S. ships on the reverse side of sailing clearance permits.[22][23]
Beginning about 1800, things started changing as a consequence of the appearance of the steam engine and the so-called age of steam.[14] Knowledge of the thermodynamics of steam processes[24] and the need for a pure water source for its use in boilers[25] generated a positive effect regarding distilling systems. Additionally, the spread of European colonialism induced a need for freshwater in remote parts of the world, thus creating the appropriate climate for water desalination.[14]
After World War II, many technologies were developed or improved such as Multi Effect Flash desalination (MEF) and Multi Stage Flash desalination (MSF). Another notable technology is freeze-thaw desalination.[28] Freeze-thaw desalination, (cryo-desalination or FD), excludes dissolved minerals from saline water through crystallization.[29]
The Office of Saline Water was created in the United States Department of the Interior in 1955 in accordance with the Saline Water Conversion Act of 1952.[5][30] This act was motivated by a water shortage in California and inland western United States. The Department of the Interior allocated resources including research grants, expert personnel, patent data, and land for experiments to further advancements.[31]
The results of these efforts included the construction of over 200 electrodialysis and distillation plants globally, reverse osmosis (RO) research, and international cooperation (for example, the First International Water Desalination Symposium and Exposition in 1965).[32] The Office of Saline Water merged into the Office of Water Resources Research in 1974.[30]
The first industrial desalination plant in the United States opened in Freeport, Texas in 1961 after a decade of regional drought.[5]
As of 2000, more than 2000 plants were operated. The largest are in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the UAE; and the biggest plant with a volume of 1,401,000 m3/d is in Saudi Arabia (Ras Al Khair).[38]
As of 2021 22,000 plants were in operation[38] In 2024 the Catalan government installed a floating offshore plant near the port of Barcelona and purchased 12 mobile desalination units for the northern region of the Costa Brava to combat the severe drought.[39]
In 2012, cost averaged $0.75 per cubic meter. By 2022, that had declined (before inflation) to $0.41. Desalinated supplies are growing at a 10%+ compound rate, doubling in abundance every seven years.[40]
There are now about 21,000 desalination plants in operation around the globe. The biggest ones are in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. The world''s largest desalination plant is located in Saudi Arabia (Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant) with a capacity of 1,401,000 cubic meters per day.[41]
Desalination is currently expensive compared to most alternative sources of water, and only a very small fraction of total human use is satisfied by desalination.[42] It is usually only economically practical for high-valued uses (such as household and industrial uses) in arid areas. However, there is growth in desalination for agricultural use and highly populated areas such as Singapore[43] or California.[44][45] The most extensive use is in the Persian Gulf.[46]
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