How much water do you use daily? How much do you think we human beings are utilizing this natural resource everyday. Freshwater withdrawals have tripled over the last 50 years. Demand for freshwater is increasing by 64 billion cubic meters a year.
The main sources of fresh water are surface waters and ground water. As presaged by UN (United States), 14% of the world's population will encounter water scarcity by 2025.
One of the feasible solution for this global jeopardy is DESALINATION. Desalination is the process in which salts and minerals are removed from a substance. At present 1% of the global water utilization is provided by desalination plants.
Israel tops the list of countries using desalinated water by a proportion of 40% water usage from desalination. According to the International Desalination Association, in June 2015, 18,426 desalination plants operated worldwide, producing 86.8 million cubic meters per day, providing water for 300 million people. This number increased from 78.4 million cubic meters in 2013, a 10.71% increase in 2 years. The single largest desalination project is Ras Al-Khair in Saudi Arabia, which produced 1,025,000 cubic meters per day in 2014, although this plant is expected to be surpassed by a plant in California.
Desalination has also played a pivotal role in the unhindered growth of the Singapore, where 25% of the water demand is fulfilled by desalinated water. Taking Chennai, India as an example, the city faced severe water shortage at regular intervals 1983,87,93,2001, 2004 and in the later part of 2012. The government setup two mega desalination plants due to the alarming scenario of water shortage in 2004. Despite, presently 30% of the Chennai's water needs are fulfilled by desalinated water, still there is a need for 300,000 m3/day.
The Global desalination market is expected to hit 52.4 billion dollars by 2020.
With inadequate freshwater sources and industrialization hand in glove with urbanization, the need for alternate sources like desalinated plants will skyrocket in the nearby coming years.
The main sources of fresh water are surface waters and ground water. As presaged by UN (United States), 14% of the world's population will encounter water scarcity by 2025.
One of the feasible solution for this global jeopardy is DESALINATION. Desalination is the process in which salts and minerals are removed from a substance. At present 1% of the global water utilization is provided by desalination plants.
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Israel tops the list of countries using desalinated water by a proportion of 40% water usage from desalination. According to the International Desalination Association, in June 2015, 18,426 desalination plants operated worldwide, producing 86.8 million cubic meters per day, providing water for 300 million people. This number increased from 78.4 million cubic meters in 2013, a 10.71% increase in 2 years. The single largest desalination project is Ras Al-Khair in Saudi Arabia, which produced 1,025,000 cubic meters per day in 2014, although this plant is expected to be surpassed by a plant in California.
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| image source: siasat.pk |
Desalination has also played a pivotal role in the unhindered growth of the Singapore, where 25% of the water demand is fulfilled by desalinated water. Taking Chennai, India as an example, the city faced severe water shortage at regular intervals 1983,87,93,2001, 2004 and in the later part of 2012. The government setup two mega desalination plants due to the alarming scenario of water shortage in 2004. Despite, presently 30% of the Chennai's water needs are fulfilled by desalinated water, still there is a need for 300,000 m3/day.
The Global desalination market is expected to hit 52.4 billion dollars by 2020.
With inadequate freshwater sources and industrialization hand in glove with urbanization, the need for alternate sources like desalinated plants will skyrocket in the nearby coming years.
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| Image source: logicom |
Civil Scholar is a Blog by Aravind Samala on Construction, Environment, Technology, Trends and Innovation.