Yes - Hiya Shah It’s true in the United States, it’s true in California, it’s true globally. The scarcity of freshwater resources and the need for additional freshwater supply is critical in many arid regions around the world, and it will be increasingly important in the future. These areas may not have freshwater resources in the form of surface water or limited underground brackish water resources. One thing we still have plenty of, however, is the ocean. Some areas are already harnessing innovative solutions like desalination, or more broadly, turning salt water into potable water. Desalination is a time-tested method that has been around for centuries. Reverse osmosis, a method of removing salt from seawater has been proven effective in creating fresh sources of drinking water that can deliver the health benefits people need. When properly designed, desalination plants can then create drinkable water that is of high quality. Such a method of desalination is backed up by scientific data and is highly understood. The technology used is also reliable in that it allows for high-quality water, which means that using such a method should allow for great results and could help eliminate the water shortage crisis that the world might face in the future. A problem with many proposed solutions to the ever-increasing water demand is that they heavily rely on uncontrollable factors. For example, more water reservoirs would presuppose that they need rain or snowfall to be filled up. However, desalination does not rely on anything aside from the ocean. With concerns surrounding the melting of the polar ice caps and the rise of the sea levels, nobody would be worried about the ocean disappearing anytime soon. Desalination plants are located away from large residential areas. Though there are large facilities, they are located in industrial zones, so they would not put residential areas at risk. People just have to put a plan in place for the location of desalination plants to make such a technology safer in the long term. What’s more, just a single desalination plant will be able to supply more than 500 million liters of water that would be drinkable. With this incredible amount of water, we could change the way we get water. When built in regions that need it most (eg. those with chronic shortages), there is growing evidence that this technology could be especially useful in removing common water-borne contaminants such as drugs, residues of cosmetic and endocrine disruptors. Although some may argue that desalination requires a lot of energy to process, it should be noted that the use of fossil fuels has been reduced in many facilities worldwide by using wave, wind and solar energy to power up facilities instead. When strategically placed, desalination could be the answer to the drastic consequences of drought in California. No - Arlina Yang
Desalination shouldn’t be one of the solutions for California to fight back the effects of drought due to the various problems that come along with it. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionarie defined desalination as “the process of removing salt from seawater”. Reasons that desalination shouldn’t be the answer that California turns to include the energy intensive nature of desalination, the high costs, brine that could damage the environment, and the risk of producing contaminated water. The average desalination plant can take up to two kilowatt hours of energy to produce a cubic meter of fresh water. Though it would result in a count under two dollars on power grids, further thought on the immense amount of fossil fuels that would be required to create the electricity is unfathomable. The damage that the high energy required to supply the desalination plant could bring on could destroy the already very much so environment. More energy and both electricity would be required to produce water from desalination than any water supply options around the world leading to a higher dependence on fossil fuels. The high costs of desalination comes from not just the energy costs, but also from the building of desalination plants. Construction costs of the plant could be enough to prevent further development to this technology on its own. The returns of the plant are also not enough to weigh out the heavy costs as well. Due to creating fresh water out of salt water, it created brine--a high concentration solution of salt in water. This causes an overly concentrated brine that could very well contaminate the environment in where it is placed. In fact, the brine is strong enough to actually kill wildlife and vegetation--if it comes in contact with them. In the process of salt removal, the chemicals such as chlorine-removing chemicals, used could mix into the brine. Which leads to an even more dangerous solution of brine. The risk of producing contaminated water was an obvious question that often accompanies the topic of desalination. And there’s a reason as to why it does. While desalination can produce clean water, there is also a fair chance that it could also introduce chemical contaminants into the water. While it could depend on the location and design of the plant, the possibility is undeniable. Some many argue that the transition from fuel energy to other powers such as wave, wind, and solar energy, while this eliminates the problem of the energy-intensive nature of the plants. That’s another added cost to the desalination plant that we would not be able to afford for all plants. And the question of whether the plant will produce water that is not contaminated with chemicals still remains no matter the change of energy. Desalination is not the answer to the effects of drought in California as the cons far outweighs the benefits that could come with it. From the mass use of energy that will drain our ecosystem, to the ridiculously high costs that have a small return on investment. As well as the damaging effects of brine to the environment where it comes into contact with and the indisputable risk of producing contaminated water from desalination. All in all, desalination should not be the response given to the problem of droughts in California.
5 Comments
6/27/2022 08:06:10 am
More energy and both electricity would be required to produce water from desalination than any water supply options around the world leading to a higher dependence on fossil fuels. Thank you, amazing post!
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7/2/2022 10:21:53 am
Reasons that desalination shouldn’t be the answer that California turns to include the energy intensive nature of desalination, the high costs, brine that could damage the environment, Thank you for taking the time to write a great post!
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9/14/2022 03:36:53 am
This causes an overly concentrated brine that could very well contaminate the environment in where it is placed. Thank you, amazing post!
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